


The Unknown

by officialarrow



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, HOPE YOU DON'T GET TOO CONFUSED!, Oops, PREVIOUSLY NAMED 'I BET MY LIFE', inspired to write it after reading 'paper towns', might be similar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:30:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4178109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officialarrow/pseuds/officialarrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity Smoak had never had any one of those life-changing moments. You know when something happens and then you realize who you are and what you actually want to be. She had never truly lived her life to the fullest, until she met Oliver.<br/>Oliver Queen. He could possibly have been the hottest and most genuine guy in the entire school, okay maybe even in the world. Felicity had developed a crush on him when he was eight and he had moved in next door. She was completely and utterly in love with him. She knew that.<br/>Which was why it was so sad that they weren’t in the same places in high school and the fact that they hadn’t really talked since middle school. She was the girl with the glasses who loved math and who found chemistry and physics almost as fascinating as she found computers. She was a total nerd, and he was one of the football players, one of the cool guys. She knew they would never be friends.<br/>It all changed that one day.<br/>After a week full of incredible adventures with Oliver that Felicity could never had imagined, something unexpected happens and sets her in the Unknown.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1: Before

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I just read 'Paper Towns' and I loved it so much so I was inspired to write a High School story. It might include a lot of elements from Paper Towns because I loved it (well, the ending could have been better...).  
> Oh, and I am also continuing my story 'The Unknown', I was just inspired to start a new one and it was a lot of fun to write :) I'm almost finished with the next chapter. I'll post it before I travel to Spain tomorrow ;) Then I won't be writing for a week.  
> Hope you like it and if you do leave a comment or kudos! :)

_Felicity Smoak_

 

Felicity Smoak had never had any one of those life-changing moments. You know when something happens and then you realize who you are and what you actually want to be. She had never truly lived her life to the fullest, until she met Oliver.

Oliver Fucking Queen (okay, that wasn’t his middle name, it was Jonas, but still). He could possibly have been the hottest and most genuine guy in the entire high school, okay maybe even in the world. Felicity had developed a crush on him when he was eight and he had moved in next door. It didn’t make much sense, his parents were loaded, and their neighborhood wasn’t exactly the kind of neighborhood you’d pick if you had a shitload of money. His father was some kind of CEO of some big shot company, but Felicity couldn’t have given any less shit about that. She only remembered seeing him that first day, without her knowing who he was and him not knowing her, and when he saw her he gave her the biggest smile she had seen. It was that moment she had fell for him, she thought. They used to play together until they reached a certain point in middle school.

She always admired him when he walked the halls of Starling City High School. Each day he would send her that same smile he sent her that first day. And she would be lying if she said it wasn’t her favorite part of the day. He was one of the popular kids, yet he never picked on anyone or made anyone feel like lesser people than him. It was one of the things that made Felicity love him. She was completely and utterly in love with him. She knew that.

Which was why it was so sad that they weren’t in the same places in high school and the fact that they hadn’t really talked since middle school. She was the girl with the glasses who loved math and who found chemistry and physics almost as fascinating as she found computers. She was a total nerd, and he was one of the football players, one of the cool guys. She knew they would never be friends.

It all changed that one day.

Felicity’s life was filled with strictly held routines. She would get up at 5:30 and spend 30 minutes on the treadmill, then she would shower and after that eat a bowl of healthy cereal. She dried her hair, and put on clothes and makeup. After that she would get a ride with her mom to school. She walked home, did her homework and maybe read a book. She never did anything outside her routine, and that was okay for her. She didn’t need that exciting life, she lived a simple one and that was okay for her.

Felicity liked to obey the rules, get to school on time, keep good grades and do her homework. They were almost finished with high school and she was hoping for a scholarship from MIT or something. Soon they would graduate, and she was really excited to be going off to college.

Oliver Queen could not have been more different than her in some ways. He wasn’t known for his bright mind, and he wasn’t known for going to school everyday on time. He was someone who enjoyed adventure and living on the edge. He was a popular guy, and she wasn’t a popular girl.

Which was why everything that day was so confusing. She was talking to her best friend Iris at her locker.

“Have you found a dress to the prom yet?” Iris was practically skipping up and down.

“Prom’s not for another month or so.” She searched for her chemistry book in her locker, which unlike her life, had gotten a lot messier through the years.

“Yeah, but I can’t wait! Do you think anyone is going to ask me? Oh I hope I get asked by Tommy Merlyn.”

Ugh Tommy Merlyn. He was Oliver Queen, but opposite in many ways. His parents were loaded too, which is probably why they were best friends. Oliver was nice and genuine, while Tommy was the ‘beat up that kid because he’s gay’ kind of guy. He loved partying and drinking beer and sleeping with everything that moved. He was a pig.

“Oh please, if you end up with Douchebag Merlyn as your date, you can find a dress on your own.”

“A girl can wish. He’s so hot.” Felicity shot Iris a look while she was staring dreamily in the air.

“He’s a douche and a pig.”

“Yeah, but he’s like a bad guy. I don’t know they always attract me.”

“Not me.” Felicity snorted.

“Oh don’t I know it.” Iris shot Felicity an amused look.

“What?”

“You have the eyes for Oliver Queen,” Felicity looked around nervously hoping Iris didn’t say it too loud. “And he’s like the lame popular guy.”

“He’s not lame, he’s just not the typical douchebag.”

“Yeah well, he’s fine but I need a bad guy.”

“Whatever floats your boat.” Felicity sighed. “Have you ever thought of taking Barry? He needs a date and I know he would prefer taking you.” Iris went from amused to conflicted in a second.

Barry Allen was their third best friend. They were a gang of four, with the even moore geeky Caitlin Snow, but Felicity knew he had a small crush on Iris.

“I don’t know it could get weird, I want to go with someone I like, and who actually has the balls to ask me.”

“Fine then, Barry will be my date then. He is totally arm candy anyway.”

“Yeah, if you like the nerdy types.”

“But it’s kinda like hot nerdy though, right?” Iris laughed and disappeared down the hallway to a class.

Suddenly she felt someone behind her.

“Barry, it’s settled. Me and you for prom…” She turned around and crashed face first in someone’s chest. It was someone with a very hard chest, and who smelled amazing. He backed away and she could see who it was. Holy shit.

It was Oliver Queen. Oliver Fucking Queen was standing in front of her with that big smile and she had just crashed into his very hard chest.

“I’m so sorry.” She said nervously.

“Don’t be. Didn’t realize how close I was until you crashed into me. It was my bad.” She was left speechless. He talked to her. He actually talked to her. Holy shit.

“So, Allen? He your boyfriend?” He was still smiling that Oliver Queen smile. He was gorgeous in every way. The way his hair was always perfectly up in that slightly wavy but not too long way, and the slight stubble he always had. His Leatherman jacket looked so good on him, like something in his look just clicked when he wore it. He looked young, and he looked free.

“No, we just always go together because then we both have someone to go with.” She brushed a lock of hair from her face and stared up at him, chemistry book in hand.

“Ah, well, it’s a nice arrangement.” He took a break before continuing, looking into the hallway. She expected it was to check if any of his friends saw him talking to her. “Although I am surprised, I would have thought the guys were lining up to ask you.” She was so shocked at what he had said that she probably had her mouth open or something because when he asked if she was okay, she had to snap out of it.

“I’m fine. Uh, was there anything you wanted?” He looked a bit surprised that she jumped right to the reason he was here, but he returned to smiling right after that. God, he was a sunshine.

“I hear you’re really good in chemistry. Maybe we could be lab partners or something? I know it’s not that long left of school, but you look like you’re both good company and good at chemistry.” She had to wait a while before answering, because she could get no words out.

“Sure, that would be nice.”

“I don’t hope you’re just saying yes because I asked, because you could say no if you’re worried about your grade.”

“No, no it’s fine. I’m sure I could teach you a lot.” She smiled at him and he nodded his head.

“Great, looking forward to it. Hey, by the way, don’t we have English now?” He pointed at her chemistry book, and she was sure she blushed because she had looked at the wrong day.

“Okay.” He laughed. “See you in class.” He started jogging down the hall and she watched him disappear in the distance. Wow, she thought. That was something.

That day went terribly slow. She couldn’t focus in any of the classes, and when she turned around she could see him looking up from his book and smiling. God, he had a magical smile.

 

When she got home, she ate an apple and went up to her room to start on her homework. The surprisingly awkward next moment went as this: she got into her room and threw her backpack on her bed. She then looked out the window to find Oliver working out shirtless right by the window. The window that were very close to hers. She could see his defined abs and his sweaty chest. He had really impressive muscles, and God could he get more perfect. He was doing chin ups on a bar that he had installed right by the window. Had he known it was that obvious to her when he had installed it there? No, that was just wishful thinking. She got lost in thought while staring at him, and she didn’t notice that he had lowered himself enough to look at her. She finally noticed he had seen her staring, and immediately looked away again. She could hear his little laugh as he dropped down and waved at her. She waved awkwardly back.

She got started on her homework and finished an hour and a half later. She went downstairs and ate dinner with her mother. She had made lasagna, which was probably the only thing her mother really could cook.

When she had finished, she decided to go upstairs and read the new book she had just bought, and slumped onto the bed. It was a book that Iris had read. She said ‘she cried an ocean while reading it and it was fucking amazing and she loved it, but she also hated it. Either way it’s worth a read’, so she figured she’d see if Iris was right. The book was called ‘Me Before You’ and was about this girl who gets a job as a nurse for a disabled man. She stayed up the rest of the day reading it. It got really interesting to see how their relationship developed. He practically ignored her in the beginning, but then after a while they became really good friends. But she had a boyfriend and she was his nurse, so she understood why nothing had happened between them yet. Halfway through the book she thought to herself why in hell Iris could also hate this book. It was amazing. It had gotten dark outside when she realized the clock was 12:21 in the morning, and she was taking her shirt off when she heard a sound behind her. She jumped when she saw Oliver climbing into the window. She was about to scream when he put a finger to his mouth and quietly said “Shh.”

She was standing there with her shirt almost taken off and quickly put it back on.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were… Uh, I was thinking you were asleep by now.” He took a second before continuing, slowly realizing what he had said. “That sounded so much more creepy than this is.”

“Not really.” She whispered back. “We have to be quiet my mom is probably sleeping.”

“Yeah.” He muttered quietly.

“What are you doing climbing up my window this late?” She whispered.

“I was going to ask you to sneak out with me. I wanted to show you something.”

“What?”

“I need you to see something. Come on, go out on an adventure with me!” He glanced over to her bed where the book was laying open. “Look, when you think back on this time when you were in high school, you won’t remember the book you read. You’ll remember the time you sneaked out with me to go on an adventure. Come on it’ll be fun! I’m dying to show you this place!” He was whispering eagerly. Now she noticed his expensive leather jacket, she hadn’t seen it before. He usually wore normal clothes that didn’t say ‘I’m super rich’.

She thought for a while before answering. “Fine.” She whispered. “But how do we get there? We are not taking my mom’s car she’ll find out and she’ll freak!”

“No, we can take mine!” She nodded and followed him to the window. He had climbed up the old tree that was standing in the middle of the two houses, and he helped her down.

They got into his car, it wasn’t really the car you’d expect from a rich kid, it was an ordinary looking car.

They drove in silence for a while. She opened the window to feel the air, and her hair blew all around her. She could feel Oliver’s eyes on her as she closed hers to feel the air. She needed to feel something to make sure this was real. She was riding in the car with Oliver Queen. Gorgeous Oliver Queen had snuck into her room at midnight to ask her to go on an adventure. She didn’t know it yet but her life had just made one of the biggest turns she would make. He drove them to a parking lot she didn’t recognize, and there was a tall building nearby. They got out of the car and started to walk towards the building.

“Where are we?” Felicity said with a giggle.

“A place I’ve been wanting to share with someone for a long time.” He took her hand and started to run, and she followed. They snuck in back of the building and he pulled out a key.

“Wait, is this your father’s company’s building?” She asked, and he nodded.

“I need you to see something.” They got inside and ran towards the elevator. “We’re lucky they haven’t shut them down for the night yet!” He said with a smile. They rode it so far up she was afraid she might find out she feared heights when they reached their floor.

The doors was opened they made their way through a conference room.

“I used to sit in here playing when I was little. I don’t understand why they never used this conference room. Just look forward there.” He pointed out the glass walls, and Felicity’s breath was taken from her. The view was amazing, they could see the entire city.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful.” She said walking over to the glass to look closer.

“I had this idea a few months ago to sneak in here and look at the city. I discovered how beautiful it actually was, and I’ve been wanting to share the view with someone.

“Why me?” She looked over at him, but he didn’t look at her. He just kept staring at the view. He let out a forced quick laugh and shook his head.

“Why didn’t you share this with Laurel?” She was still looking at him. Laurel was his girlfriend, and she was the most popular girl at school. She was gorgeous and looked like a model. Only bad thing about her was that she was a bitch. Which made it a lot of bad things about her.

“She’s been fucking Tommy.” He started out the window, his expression still remaining the same.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” He just stared out over the city.

“Don’t be. If she wants to screw that spoiled prick, she’s welcome to. They’re probably perfect for each other.”

“I don’t understand why people cheat. And I really don’t understand why anyone would cheat when they have you.” She didn’t think about what she was saying until she had said it. He just looked at her and smiled briefly.

“I’m not surprised that someone like you would say that. You don’t strike me as the person to cheat on anybody. I like those people, and I am those people too. “

“’People like me’?” Felicity looked at him with confusion on her face.

“Yeah, people who you look at for the first time, and you can't help but smile, and you know immediately that they are incredible people.” She smiled at him and he smiled back. It got her thinking about that day he moved next door. “Can I make a comment, which is not meant to be any sort of insult or anything like that? It’s just a comment.” He reassured. She nodded.

“It was true what I told you earlier today about guys lining up to be your prom date. I am surprised that people doesn’t, but then again I’m not.” She looked out the window as he continued speaking. “You’re sort of shy, which is difficult for people who likes you a lot.”

“I’m confident with my friends and such, but it just takes a while for me to trust you and be like that around you.”

“You’re like that now.” He was standing so close to her that she noticed his smell. She hadn’t noticed it before but she loved it. He smelled so goddamn good, she wanted to bury her head in his neck.

“Only because I’m with you.” There was a moment of silence before he continued talking.

“I despise people who cheat. It’s the main reason I don’t talk to my mother. She cheated on my dad almost their entire marriage, then it turns out my sister isn’t my dad’s, she’s her lover’s. Then she moves to Coast City with the guy and my sister. My dad, he didn’t show it, but I knew he was devastated.” He took off his leather jacket and looked at it in his hands. “He gave me this the other day. Normally I don’t wear unnecessary expensive clothes. I hate them because then I feel like people think I’m feeling superior to them. I don’t feel like I am, just because I have money. Sometimes I think we all have our moments with feeling superior over someone, and I hate that sometimes I find myself having those thoughts. I guess it’s just part of our natural state to think those thoughts. I don’t judge people who does, because that’s how we act and how we always have acted and that’s fine sometimes we can’t all be saints.”

“Wow, you are really smart.”

“I know everybody says I’m flunking and my grades are bad and such, but that’s just what they expect of me. It’s not even true, I’m actually doing great, except in chemistry. The thing is that they just assume I’m bad at school, because they expect it. I don’t like to be expected of things. Like running this company, I hate the fact that _it is expected of me_ to run this company.”

“Yeah, expectations suck.”

“Yeah.” There was another moment of silence. “You see this city? It’s beautiful up here, and you’re up high. Here you are free and you can watch it’s beauty from a high angle and you can be yourself. When you get down on the ground, everything of that disappears. It becomes ordinary again and you’re not up high anymore. You’re just a speck in this city, in this school, and you are again expected of things. You lose that high you get up here, when you’re with an amazing girl and she doesn’t expect things of you or judge you or cheat on you, and she’s just standing here in the lights of the city, looking beautiful.” She looked up at him, and he turned to her and looked her in the eyes. “Felicity, I don’t want to lose that high when I get down. I don’t want to go back to just smiling at you each day in the hallway, and then nothing else. I want to keep the high and look at that beauty it presents me each day. I want to go out on adventures and not have expectations on me.”

“Then don’t.”

“Will you go on a road trip with me sometime?” His sudden change of topic surprised her.

“What?”

“I want to just drive somewhere with you and tell you all the things I want to say to you, but I can’t here because I feel like I’m trapped in this place with these expectations and you don’t deserve to have people expecting things of me like that because you deserve me saying the true things.”

“You can just tell me here.”

“No, I need to take you away. I need to drive with you somewhere I don’t know.”

He held out his jacket for her.

“What do you want me to do with it?”

“I want to give it to you. I might not talk to you at school like I am talking to you here, where it’s just you and me up so high with no expectations. I might not be as open. So wear the jacket, and I’ll smile at you and go over to you at school and tell you about things, but not those things I really want to say.”

“Okay.” She put it on. It was a lot bigger than her size, but not too much so that she couldn’t use it.

“Wow, you look so beautiful.” He reached one of his hands out to her. “Could I dance with you?”

“But there is no music?” Felicity raised her eyebrows at him.

“We don’t need it, I can sing to you.”

He took her hand with his and put his other around her waist.

 _“_ _Woman, help me_

_You turn my head in circles”_

His voice was nice, not perfect, but he had a nice voice. He sung it slower than Imagine Dragons did. She recognized the song, it was ‘The Unknown’ by Imagine Dragons. It was a song that she never really understood, but she liked understanding things so she figured out one day that it’s about being happy and that happiness has been the unknown to him. They moved slowly back and forward as he sang.

_“Mama, blessed me_

_With magnet eyes for purple_

_Oh, so let me show you something good”_

He spun her around and she got even closer to him than she was before. Their chests were now pressed together and his face was close to hers as he sang.

 _“_ _Pastor, preacher_

_I want to say I'm sorry_

_Nice to meet ya_

_I think my eyes are starry_

_Pledge allegiance to my only_ _”_

He sang it in a much higher way than the original, the way he felt so open when he sang, it made her love it so much.

_“Sooner or later it all comes around_

_Hopefully then I will see_

_After the people and places are gone_

_You will come back,_

_You will come back to me, to me, to me_

_You will come back to me, to me, to me”_

He sang it so slowly that they had actually danced longer than she had thought. He finished by pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Thank you for the dance.” He said and smiled at her. He then walked over to the window again and she followed.

“Can I ask you for something else too?” He looked at her and she nodded. “Will you help me plan a revenge plot on Laurel and Tommy? It’s the reason I’ve been pretending that everything is okay with me and Tommy and Laurel.”

“Wait, I thought you just found out that they cheated?”

“No, I’ve known the entire time. It’s been a year I think. I’m not an idiot, I notice things. I notice change in behavior and I notice the fact that I heard them fuck one time I was surprising Laurel with a visit.”

She just says “Oh”.

He’s looking at her, but she knows he’s hurt. She knows he has realized he has chosen the wrong path and friends.

And in that moment, with the lights of the city making him look particularly good, she saw him. She saw him, and all the pain he has held inside him.

In that moment she saw him as vulnerable and open as she has ever seen him before.

In that moment, she saw  _him_.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

_Oliver Queen_

The thing with Felicity Smoak was something he hadn’t really understood lately. Every day he walked past her in the hallways, and he smiled. He always smiled at people, but with her it was different. It had taken him years to understand that the reason he was so focused on smiling at her was because he wished he’d get a smile back. Why did he want a smile back? It was something he had been speculating about for such a long time.

His fixation on her began the day they moved to the more normal house. He had actually put it as the only wish on his birthday wish list that they’d move to a normal house. His dad didn’t like it, but sure, he managed. With each day, there would be more to uncover about this blonde girl with glasses at the house next to theirs. Her hair was long and wavy, and she had these black glasses with pink at the sides. She had been fantastically mysterious, and he loved solving mysteries.

One of his favorite memories was the first summer in the house. It had been such nice weather outside, so he had been forced to go out even though he really just wanted to stay inside playing with his dinosaurs. He got his bike out and asked if Felicity wanted to join riding their bikes. So they did. He didn’t know where they were going, and for a while he suspected she didn’t either. They just kept on riding their bikes until she stopped in front of a house.

The house was shitty; it was worn out and looked really creepy. Felicity, however, didn’t feel like that about the house. She quickly took her helmet off and ran inside the house. Oliver decided to follow her, since he didn’t want her to hurt herself. When he got inside he saw her standing in front of a broken frame.

The frame contained a photo of a man with a cigarette in his mouth and a guitar in his hands. It was an old photograph, and the man was young and looked a lot like Felicity.

“Is that your dad?” Oliver tried to ask her if this was his house, but he couldn’t get the words out after he saw her nod her head slightly. She looked troubled.

“This was daddy’s house. Mommy says he died here, but she won’t tell me how.”

“Your dad is in Heaven?”

“No, mommy says he didn’t believe in Heaven. She says he was Jewish and that he had told her he didn’t believe in it, so he can’t be there.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Mommy says he was sad, and that he had been crying before he died.”

“Was this your old house?”

“No, mommy moved away when she finished school and he continued staying here.” She looked sad for a while before she continued talking again, this time not sounding so unsure.

“I think he died because he was sad.”

“Are you sad?”

“No. If he died because he was sad, I want to not be sad. I want to be the opposite. If you die when you are sad, what about when you are happy? I think when you are happy you are alive. So I want to be happy.”

That sentence changed his whole perspective on life. He didn’t know it at the time, because he had only just turned nine, but that quote would change how he felt about everything. As she had said, if sad is death then maybe happy is living. So he would be happy.

And that is why, he thought, the reason why he had wanted to tell her so much. Maybe if he told her everything he might feel, he would be happy. That thing he didn’t know he had promised himself that night, was that he would be happy. He would be happy, and the sad and horrible truth was that it wasn’t directly the sadness that had killed her father. In real life, he had shot himself in the head with a gun. But sometimes, things have deeper meanings. Perhaps it was the sadness he had felt that killed him, which would make a case for the sadness to be at fault, or it could be (the lesser meaning version) all the narcotics he was addicted to that led him to put a gun in his mouth and shoot. Either way, the sad and undeniable truth was that this tragedy had (even though she hadn’t experienced it herself, being the fact that she had merely been born) shaped Felicity in an untold way. It was an untold truth, and it was a truth he had to get her to tell.

So he had taken her out, taken her to his favorite place in the city, and let himself be the best version of himself. And it had worked; he had felt happy as they danced. For one moment, he had felt happy. For one moment, he had forgotten about all the shit he had been through, with his mom and with his friends. For one moment he had danced, and he had felt happy.

So another night he felt himself long for her presence once again, but he wanted to show her something else. He wanted to wait until it was the perfect time. Which was about five in the morning. He waited until he went to sleep, and put his alarm clock to four in the morning. That night he waited for sleep to make it’s way to him, but sleep never came. He kept thinking about that day, going back to the promise he had made to himself, and in a way, to her.

At 4:02 in the morning he got up and got dressed. He made his way downstairs, and luckily for him, his dad was staying in the mansion (which he realized, now that Oliver was practically an adult, he could do) so he wouldn’t get caught. The only problem was how Felicity wouldn’t get caught.

He climbed into the tree and started knocking carefully on her window once he had reached the branch right outside her room. After a while he heard a groan, and Felicity opened up the window. Her eyes were almost completely shut and her hair was kind of everywhere, but it was really cute.

“Oliver? What are you doing here? God, it’s the middle of the night!” She groaned at him, pushing the window open so that he could climb inside. She nudged him on the shoulder right after complaining, and he almost lost his balance. Luckily, she had turned around and didn’t notice.

“I wanted to show you something.”

“At… 4 in the morning? Oliver, what the Hell.”

“Come with me.”

“No, it’s way too late… or early? I don’t know, it’s the middle of the night! Plus, if my mom found out she would freak!”

“Take a risk! Come on, you know last time was worth it!” She looked up at him and he could see her mind slightly changing.

He got her out of the house five minutes later, and they both got into his car with as little sound as possible.

They snuck into the building once more and got up to the conference room. When they got up, he could see the sky was starting to become lighter.

“Okay, so what was the reason behind bringing me here for a second time?” She smiled at him with tired eyes. She had pulled on a hoodie, and the hood was loosely on her head with her blonde wavy hair folding in the front.

“You need to see the moment the sun rises, up from here, it’s magnificent.” Her mouth opened, and she struggled to get words out. She looked upset.

“You brought me here to watch a sunrise?” She sounded mad.

“Uh…” He didn’t have an answer to that.

“It’s sweet and all that, but really? We have school tomorrow!” He thought for a while before answering.

“I’m sorry. I just needed to see you. Somehow it’s easier like this.”

“When we’re alone? God, Oliver, I thought you were the kind of guy who didn’t care about popularity…”

“What? No, God no! I just mean, when we’re here, alone, it gets much easier to talk to you, honestly. I mean, _really_ talk to you.” She kind of nodded after a while of silence.

“Okay.” She said after a while.

“It’s a few minutes until the sun rises.”

“Yeah.”

“Can we make a deal?”

“Okay.”

“If you can ask me an emotional question that I _have_ to answer honestly, can I ask you one too?” She thought for a while.

“Okay.”

“You can ask first.”

“Hm… Why did you suddenly invite me here last time, it was really out of nowhere.”

“I can’t answer that without asking you first.”

“That’s not how this deal works!”

“Who’s to say?”

“I say!”

“Yeah, well I need to do it like this.”

“Fine. Ask me then, but it better make sense.” He sat down with his shoulder against the glass, looking out over the city, which seemed to have gotten a lot lighter during their brief talk. She followed him and sat down too. After a while he spoke.

“That day when we rode our bikes to your dad’s house, I could see that it had changed you. I need to know how it had changed you.”

“My dad? Why do you want to know that?”

“It sort of changed me, that day. I just need to know how you felt.”

She thought for a while before she answered.

“I figured out that my dad had killed himself a few years later. Finding out didn’t change me, I think I always knew he had. I’m not sure, it always made me feel like I wasn’t enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“I guess it’s why we stopped hanging out. I kind of felt like I wasn’t enough for you.”

“You are.”

“Yeah, but it’s why I’m shy with people I’m not familiar enough. I feel like I’m not worth it, like my dad thought I wasn’t worth living for.”

“It’s because of that night.”

“What?”

“Why I invited you out so suddenly. I’ve been wanting to for a long time, but I didn’t know how. That night I got a whole new perspective on life. I wanted to be happy, so that I wouldn’t “die” of sadness like you told me your dad did. Recently I figured out I needed to change things, because my friends weren’t real friends and that you could be. I saw that being close to you could make me happy and that is what I’ve been wanting to achieve since I was nine.”

She smiled briefly before a ray of sunlight hit her face. It was so sudden, the way the rays hit her. She looked out the window and onto the city underneath them. Her face got riddled with awe as she looked out over the city. The orange colors spread out, and the colors were much more innocent than they were at the sunsets.

“Oh my God.” She breathed out. He noticed it then. The sunset was right there at his right, but he was staring right in front of him, on her. He couldn’t explain it, but it was a new feeling. He couldn’t take his eyes from her. He had never felt this way, yet he knew what was going on through his mind.

The beauty of the sunrise could never outweigh the beauty of her being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

_Felicity Smoak_

 

Oliver had taken her out two times now. Both times had been in the middle of the night. She didn’t really know if she could call them dates, he had never really asked her out on a date. He had just asked her to join two of his many adventures. It’s not like it was a new thing to him to waltz out in the middle of the night doing God knows what. It was sort of his trademark. Except, maybe his smile.

Today, Felicity stood eagerly by her locker and waited for the usual Oliver-smile. Iris and Barry were standing besides her talking about prom and other school stuff when they noticed she wasn’t paying attention to anything they were saying.

“Felicity? Hello, Earth to Felicity!” Iris waved her hand in front of her eyes, and Felicity blinked in surprise.

“Yeah, sorry. What was it?” Iris’ mouth was hanging open in shock, as if she had said something completely mad.

“Oh my God, Felicity! I was talking about prom! We need to find dresses, and you’re not paying attention? God, what’s been going on with you lately? You seem so distracted!” Iris almost yelled at her, which made her hide her face inside her locker in embarrassment. Iris took these things very seriously.

“She does have a point.” Barry leaned in by her locker.

“Yeah, I’ve been distracted, but please don’t shout so that everyone at this school can hear it.”

“Felicity, 1 you need to stop caring about what everyone thinks and hears, 2 you need to _start_ caring about prom, 3 when were you going to tell me about Oliver?” Felicity’s head shot out of her locker.

“What?” She said nervously.

“He asked you to help him with chemistry!” Iris hit her playfully on the arm. Felicity mouthed ouch to her, but Iris didn’t stop staring at her. For a moment there she had thought Iris knew about her ‘adventures’ with Oliver.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Iris. He just wants a better grade, and I have As.”

“Not that big of a deal, you’ve been pining over this guy ever since middle school! You’ve practically stayed silent until now, this _is_ a big deal!” It was a big deal, but Iris didn’t know _how big_ of a deal it actually was. Because he had practically shown her he liked her. Not necessarily _liked_ her, but enough to tell her he had _needed to see her_. That had to mean something, she didn’t know what, but it _had to._  

“Yeah, well I don’t want to get my hopes up, it’s not likely to happen.” Felicity said, and even her knowing the truth about the nights he’d invited her out with him, she still believed her own words.

“Well, he’s coming this way now.” Iris’ words had only just been spoken when she turned around and saw Oliver walking down the hallway. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt underneath the blue and white Leatherman jacket. When he saw her he immediately smiled, that smile she loved so much. She smiled back as he walked past her, and stood there long after he was gone.

“Yeah, you keep saying it won’t happen and then he smiles at you like that? Please, that guy _wants_ you, Felicity.” She didn’t know what to make of the word ‘want’, but she took it as a win anyway.

“Believe me, a guy smiles at you like that, he likes you.” Barry commented. She smirked at him as she saw him blush, because they both knew she had caught Barry and Iris smiling like that at times, especially Barry.

 

After lunch with Barry, Iris, and Caitlyn at their usual table, Felicity grabbed her chemistry book and raced over to the classroom. It wasn’t because she was late, but in some way she hoped he was there early waiting for her too. They hadn’t really spoken in school, besides the time he asked her to help him with chemistry. When she got there, to her surprise, he was sitting there.

When he saw her he immediately stood up. She didn’t know why he had stood up, and it seemed like he didn’t either.

“Hi.” He said. He seemed so different from the other nights. It was like he had said though; at school it would be different.

“Hi.” She responded. “I see you came here early too.”

“I was sort of hoping you would show up early so I could talk to you.” He glanced down at her outfit. “You’re wearing the jacket.”

“Yeah, I like it. I like wearing it.”

“Well, it fits you.”

“Thanks.” There were a moment of silence, and she used it to gently sit down next to him.

“So, when are we going to plan the almighty revenge plan of yours?” Felicity looked over at him and laughed softly.

“Ah, yes! The revenge plan! Forgot I asked you about that.” He thought for a while. “Could I come over to you, or you could come over to me, and study chemistry? We could do both, the revenge plan and the chemistry, that is.” Felicity smiled at him, he seemed kind of nervous.

“Yeah,” She said. “You could just drop by later. You could eat dinner with us if you want. I know your dad isn’t there, and I can’t really imagine you cooking dinner.”

“I usually just order in, but that sounds great! It will be nice to not eat alone for once.” He smiled at her just when the bell rang and lots of people came into the classroom. Oliver straightened his back more and stared forward at the blackboard. She turned her eyes to the door and noticed Laurel walking in. She walked over to them.

“So, I hear you two are lab partners?” She said, and Felicity could hear that she wasn’t pleased about it.

“Laurel…” Oliver sounded tired.

“No, Ollie, I just wanted to meet your new partner. My name is Laurel, and you are…?” She held out her hand, and Felicity shook it carefully.

“Uh, my name is Felicity. Look I know who you are, we have actually met…” Felicity didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

“So, Ollie, when were you going to tell me?”

“Laurel, it’s not really that big of a deal. Besides, I did tell you last week that I’d do everything I could to get a better grade in chemistry.” Oliver slumped down on the table with his hands covering his face.

“Well, I’ll be in the back with Johanna.” Oliver turned his head and looked at her. She leaned over Felicity and kissed him. He broke it up pretty soon, and Laurel just turned around and walked down to the girl who had to be the Johanna she was talking about.

“God, I’m so sorry about that.” Oliver rubbed his eyes.

“It’s okay. But, she is kind of a bitch.” Felicity whispered.

“Yeah!” Oliver laughed.

“Ugh, why would _you_ ever date a girl like that? You’re not like that at all.” She looked at Laurel who was sitting on her phone, she was wearing super expensive clothes and her face was full of make-up.

“She didn’t use to be like that. She was actually really nice and sweet. I guess she turned like this after she started to sleep with Tommy.”

“She used to be nice?”

“Yeah, then her family got a lot of money and Tommy started to want to hang out with her more and I didn’t want to break up with her. I did really care about her at that time, hell, I think I even loved her.” Felicity turned her head to the door, Tommy came bursting in, kicking the door open. He looked surprised to see that the teacher wasn’t there, almost like he wanted to be late and make a scene. He then looked at Oliver and his face lighted up when he saw them.

“Dude, I swear I thought I was going to be major late. Hey, what’s going on here, you ditching me Ollie?” He looked at him confused.

“Yeah, dude. Sorry, gotta get my grades up if I’m gonna pass and graduate.” Tommy looked disappointed, and then he looked at Felicity.

“Smoak, right? Yeah, I’ve heard of you. You’re the neighbor! Didn’t we use to play together at some point?”

“I think so.” Felicity said, and Tommy smiled at her.

“Nice to see ya! Don’t let this dumbass bring your grades down!” He laughed and sat down back them where he used to sit. Caitlin, who was never late, came running into the classroom and looked at Felicity. She frowned when she saw Oliver beside her, although Oliver waved his hand at her friendly. Felicity mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Caitlin when she sat down next to Tommy. She looked so unpleased. Mr. Allen, who was Barry’s father, came in the door a minute later.

“Sorry I’m late class, my lunch was cut down when someone decided to perform an experiment during lunch, and apparently needed my help. Now, let’s put our minds away from student idiots, and on to the atoms.” He started scribbling down information on the blackboard.

“Okay, time for me to start understanding this shit.” Oliver mumbled silently into her ear. She giggled into her hand before writing down notes.

 

“But, if the element passes on an electron to another element, it doesn’t get reduced? That doesn’t make any sense.” Oliver was pointing at a drawing explaining oxidation.

“No, because electrons are negative, so if the elements gives away an electron, it would be positive, since atoms contain the same amount of electrons as protons. If it contains one less electron, it has more protons, which are positive. Reduction, however, is the other element getting one more electron.”

“Uh-huh.” Oliver nodded.

“Did you understand it?”

“Think so.” He scribbled it down in a notebook and moved his lips as he read it. They were sitting on the floor of her bedroom with their backs against the bed. The books were spread all around them, and Oliver was trying to learn all he could. It felt like he was rushing it.

“Do you think we could take a break, my brain feels like it’s gonna explode.” Oliver breathed out for such a long time, Felicity started to get worried.

“Sure.” She smiled at him and put the books away.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” He looked at her, at first she didn’t know if she was going to take him seriously, but when she saw the seriousness in his eyes she decided to answer.

“Something with computers.” She answered quickly, because she had known since she was seven.

“Really? Computers?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Yup. I’m sort of really good with computers. It’s a talent, of sorts.”

“Can you show me?” He looked at her with excitement in his eyes.

“Okay, pull up your phone.” He took his phone out and held it up. “Okay, do you have a code?”

“What?”

“A code? You know, four numbers? Before you can access the phone, I mean.”

“Oh, yeah it’s…”  
“No! Don’t tell me! It kind of ruins the whole point.” He looked confused, but nodded in agreement.

“Okay.”

She pulled up her laptop and started writing in numbers. Oliver looked at the screen like he was seeing something really strange. She didn’t blame him, to be able to understand it took a lot. Finally after a while, she looked at him.

“Look at your phone.”

He looked down, and sure, there it was. The phone had been accessed and there was something written in the Notes app.

_“Hey, Oliver. This is how you hack a phone. Your face is priceless when you don’t understand anything. I’d love to see it again._

_-FS”_

He let out a loud laugh before looking at her in awe.

“How the fuck?” He couldn’t take his eyes off her, she tried to look away, but ended up looking at him too.

“It’s just something I’ve always been able to do.”

“This is incredible. We can use this! This is like the best skill you can have when you’re plotting revenge. God, Felicity, you’re remarkable!” He laughed while he smiled with his whole face, looking down at his phone again.

“Thank you for remarking on it.”

 

When she got in her locker the next day, she found a simple note. It was handwritten on a small piece of paper. The handwriting was really nice, and she kept staring at it before actually reading the note.

_“Hey, Felicity. Your face is priceless all the time. I love seeing it._

_-OQ”_

She stared at the note for a long time. What was she supposed to make of this? Did he think she was pretty? Did he just love seeing her funny face, since he had said it was priceless?

“What is that?” Caitlin stood behind her, and she stuffed the note inside her locker before Caitlin could see it.

“Nothing. No thing.” Felicity sounded nervous.

“Okay, you’re acting strange, which you have been the last week. Look, I don’t know why you switched lab partners, and it’s okay, but please give me notice so that I can mentally prepare to be stuck with _the idiot_ himself.” Caitlin looked disappointed as she ran a hand down her wavy hair.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that Cait. Hey, I’ll make it up to you. I promise, it’s just that…” Felicity thought for a few seconds before she continued. “Can I tell you something I have been dying to tell someone, but I feel like I can’t really tell Bare or Iris?”

“You know you can Lis. God, we’ve known each other practically our entire lives! We’re best friends, for Christ’s sake!”

Felicity told Caitlin everything. From the first meeting, which she knew about, to the adventures they’d done together.

“Oh my God!” Caitlyn almost shouted it out when they were walking home from school. She quickly put a hand on her mouth before giggling. “Sorry!” She mumbled.

“You have no idea how strange this is. I feel like he can’t really like me at one point, and then he says all these nice things at another point and then he slips cute notes to me. Either way, you know how long I’ve been in love with him Cait!”

“This is so awesome! If you two get together then maybe he could introduce me to Ronnie! God, he’s so hot…”

“Yeah, and your crush on Ronnie has been alive almost as long as mine for Oliver.” Felicity laughed while they were circling the corner of her street.

“I just feel like it’s a beginning of something.” Felicity said and looked dreamily at his house before they entered her house and ran upstairs into her bedroom.

“No Felicity, it’s _the_ beginning!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY, so with my very little knowledge of chemistry (which was difficult to write since I learned it in my own language, norwegian, and not english) I am sorry if it is completely wrong. I did try to make it right and I did get right on that question on the chemistry test we had :) Luckily I have chosen not to fail in chemistry next year, and rather go with social sciences. Norwegian school systems are different if you didnt know :)  
> Also, I've just come back after celebrating my birthday, which was the 3rd. It's the 4th here in Norway now, but yeah :) Luckily I started writing it the 2nd because I've been so busy!  
> ALSO I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE PAPER TOWNS MOVIE YOU HAVE NO IDEA, I LOVED THAT BOOK. THIS IS INSPIRED BY THAT BOOK, JOHN GREEN IS MY FAVE.  
> Hope you liked it :)  
> Also I tried to include Caitlin in this chapter because she is supposed to be the best friend of Felicity, and then Barry and Iris are best friends and so on. I'll try to write Diggle into the next chapter! I want him and Ronnie to be Oliver's buddies! He needs good ones!


	4. Chapter 4

_Oliver Queen_

Why had he left her that note? He had no idea, it just happened. He knew he meant it, he did love seeing her and he did love her face. She was beautiful, but the ways the note could take them further kind of scared him. After all, he was conflicted with himself. He wanted to see her. He didn’t. He _wanted_ her. He didn’t.

Maybe it was confusing, but put it in another way: he didn’t know if what he felt for her was romantic. He thought she was beautiful and smart and oh – she was so out of his league, but at some point he would stare into her eyes when they were out on adventures, and oh he wanted her. He had wanted her so much when they were dancing or when the sun had hit her face. But then at school, he would stare into her eyes and that same feeling wasn’t there. He had freaked out in that chemistry class when he had discovered that, and then Laurel had shown up, and then Tommy, and he was done.

He knew it was terrible, and he felt like shit for knowing this and feeling like this. He thought to himself that maybe he could be with her anyway, that he could live with not feeling that way some of the time. However, he knew he couldn’t do it. He knew that wouldn’t make either of them happy, which was utterly important.

“Dude, what’s up with that Smoak chick?” Ronnie was coming into the locker room from the shower wearing only a towel, and opened up his locker on the opposite side of his.

“What do you mean?” Oliver looked over his shoulder at Ronnie who was taking out his clothes.

“Tommy’s been telling me you’re into this girl.” Ronnie smiled a sneaky smile at him. Ronnie were his cousin, he was the son of his dad's sister. They did share some similar traits, but they never really thought of themselves as family. They had been friends since starting school together, so they were more friends than family he would say.

“Tommy says a lot of things.” He started putting on his clothes too. They had just had football practice, and John Diggle, their quarterback, had pushed them really hard. “Doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth most of the time.”

“Yeah! That’s true, for sure.” Ronnie laughed. “So, at least tell me why you’re pissed at Tommy.”  The last sentence came without him preparing for it. Had he noticed?

“What do you mean?” He said, for the second time this conversation.

“Come on, we’re not blind. Every chance you get to tackle Tommy, you do. It’s not even hard to notice you’re never really talking much to him.”

“You know how Tommy can be, never really thinking much of consequences or what the other person might feel.”

“He’s sleeping with Laurel?” Oliver looked at him in surprise. “Yeah, thought so. You’re never really with Laurel anymore either. And they have been spending lots of time together. God, why aren’t you breaking up with that bitch? Guess this is the perfect time to tell you I’ve never really liked her.”

“I can’t yet.”

“Oh man, you’re getting revenge! Is it with that Smoak girl? Come on, man. Don’t do that, don’t cheat back!”

“No! No, I’m getting revenge another way.”

“Well, you don’t have to tell me, but I can’t wait to find out how you put those cheaters at their rightful place!”

Oliver chuckled and fist-bumped Ronnie. “You’ll be the first to know buddy.”

John came into the locker room a minute later. “Please guys, this is the locker room. When I say get a room, I’m not talking about the one who has a ‘locker’ in front of it.”

Oliver punched him playfully in the arm, and John continued to laugh.

“Dig, two things. First, the fact that you think that way says more of you than us. Second, we’re practically family, gross!” Oliver laughed when Ronnie said that, and John was left with a nod of defeat.

 

He drove from school after it ended and went straight to the barbershop. His hair was starting to get locks and it was also starting to fall on his forehead, which he did not like at all. He went for a buzz cut, it was short but he could still go through his hair with his hand. He drove home and went up to his room where he sat down in silence. His mind went to Felicity right away. It was Friday, and he’d been invited to a party at Ronnie’s later. He didn’t really want to come, but maybe if he could get Felicity out with him it would be more fun. He secretly hoped Tommy and Laurel wouldn’t be there, but he knew that was just wishful thinking. Hopefully, although it was a super strange thought, they might be too busy with each other for the night.

He got through his chemistry homework without much difficulty, and started on the rest too just to get it all done. When he was finished, he slumped back on the bed. The clock wasn’t more than five thirty, so he figured he’d shut his tired eyes for an hour before the party. He thought about Felicity, he thought about the notes…

And then he woke up seven forty-seven, and he jolted up from the bed. The party was supposed to start at eight, and it wasn’t that big of a deal to show up late. However, convincing Felicity would take some time, and he had calculated that he would have more time than this. He got out of his clothes and put on some fresh ones: a plain white t-shirt with a blue shirt on top, and jeans. His hand went through his new hairstyle, and he put a Starling Tigers (the school’s football team) cap on backwards. His outfit sort of fit him. He noticed he had forgotten to shave, so he spotted a mild five o’ clock shadow, but it sort of fit the look he now had. Some of the short hairs went through the hole at the back of the blue cap, and he knew immediately it was the right look for him.

He opened the window, leaped and grabbed one of the branches on the tree right outside her bedroom, and hauled himself into the tree and knocked on her window. After a few seconds Felicity appeared and looked at him. She frowned, as if this was a new thing. She opened it and let him in.

“I didn’t recognize you at first.” Felicity stared at him in shock. “You cut your hair!”

“Yeah, figured it was getting too long.” She looked kind of sad about it. “Oh, you liked it better before?” He saw her trying to get the disappointed look away from her face, but it never really went away.

“No! Or, I did like your hair, but this new look kind of suits you.” She studied him for a while. “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, Ronnie is having a party.” She nodded kind of awkwardly and looked at him, waiting for him to continue talking. “It’s sort of why I’m here.” She frowned in confusion.

“What? You want me to go to a party with you?” He nodded. “I don’t know, Oliver… I mean the last two times you’ve taken me out have been fantastic…” She thought they had been fantastic, so he couldn’t help but smile. “…but I don’t know about a party.”

“Why not?”

“Because your friends aren’t like you, and they wouldn’t want me there. Plus, if Laurel is going to be there then please spare me the burden.” She looked uncomfortable. He took out his phone and started texting Laurel.

_OQ: Hey Laurel, what are you doing tonight? Party?_

Her answer came seconds later:

_LL: No, sorry babe. My dad won’t let me out. Sorry!_

He felt relief flood over him. Just to check if what he suspected was right, he texted her once more:

_OQ: I could come over?_

She answered right after:

_LL: Sorry babe, not the best time tonight._

He then texted Tommy:

_OQ: Party tonight?_

Seconds later Tommy confirmed his suspicions.

_TM: Nah, sorry bro. Got held up._

“Neither Laurel or Tommy will be there. I assure you. You could also invite your friends?” She thought for a while.

“Still, Oliver. I don’t know if I will fit in there. Besides, I don’t know if my mom would agree.” Oliver then turned back to the window, got in the tree and climbed down. He then ran to their front door and rang the doorbell. A moment later Felicity’s mom opened the door.

“Hi, Mrs. Smoak.” He said and smiled. Donna Smoak was a really nice woman. She had always treated Oliver nicely.

“Oh, hi Oliver! Looking good, going somewhere?” He nodded. “Oh, well don’t get into any trouble then. So what did you want?” She smiled at him. They had eaten dinner together a few days earlier, and she had been really surprised when he had showed up. Surprised, and happy.

“I was wondering if I could get your permission to take Felicity out?” Her mom lighted up and was smiling.

“Yes! Felicity, come down here! Oh, that sounds like so much fun!”

“Yeah, I’ll look after her I promise.”

“Oh, that is so sweet of you!” Felicity came down the stairs and looked at Oliver in shock.

“Oliver? What are you doing _here_?” She said, but really she was meaning _by my front door_.

“I just got your mom’s blessing to take you out for the evening. I promised I’ll drive you and look after you.” Felicity’s mouth hung open, and her mom was grinning like a little girl.

“Okay Felicity! Go out and have fun! Come on now.” She practically pushed Felicity out the door. He noticed she had put on some new clothes, which made him think she knew this would happen.

 

They got to the party around nine, and then when everyone saw them they all acted like normal. Almost the whole football team was there, except for Tommy and a few others (and to their pleasant surprise all the biggest jerks were not there). He saw that her friends were there: the girl Caitlin who he had switched places with in chemistry, and the girl who usually stood by Felicity’s locker, and then the scrawny dude who kept staring at the girl who usually stood by Felicity’s locker. They all had a drink in their hands and were sitting with the rest of them. Some of the cheerleaders were there too, but most of them were in the celibacy club, so they would never show up at a party like this.

Most of them were drinking, and they were talking over each other. They all sat in a ring, and when they looked up at them they all cheered, like they had been waiting for them to show up.

“Let’s play ‘spin the bottle’!” One of the cheerleaders shouted out. They had all gotten a bit to drink, so most of them cheered along. Oliver sat down besides Dig, and Felicity sat down beside Caitlin. Caitlin smiled and gave Felicity a drink, which she took a sip off and immediately frowned.

“Okay I have a bottle.” He saw Dig putting a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the floor and pointed at Ronnie. “Host gets to spin first!” They all cheered and Ronnie stood forward and spun it. When it had been spinning for a while, Oliver started to panic, because it looked like it was going to stop at Felicity. The bottle slowed down, and he paid attention to every person it could possibly stop at. Barry… no it continued. Iris… no it continued. Felicity… the bottle had slowed so much down that it stopped. But, it didn’t stop in time for Felicity. The bottle stopped in front of Caitlin (at this point he let out a huge breath of relief he hadn’t known he was keeping in), and she gave a shy smile before Ronnie swept over the floor and crushed his lips against hers. It lasted about half a minute before some of the guys leaped at Ronnie and threw him back. He was laughing and took a sip of his drink before he looked back at Caitlin again. She was busy taking a sip as well, and most likely to take in what had just happened.

“Okay, well although that was fun – and not gross at all – we should play something more exciting than ‘spin the bottle’. Let’s play truth or dare!” Iris was talking with one drink in her hand and her other arm around Barry’s shoulder. Felicity had explained that they were best friends, but judging by the look of Barry right now – he was a lot more than that.

“Okay, then you start.” Dig was lying down on his side propped up on his side with a beer in his hand, and pointed at Iris.

“Fine… Eddie.” One of the blonde football players whom Oliver never had really talked to looked surprised at Iris. Barry stiffened when he heard Eddie’s name.

“Truth.” He answered, and Iris looked a bit disappointed at first, but then she smiled and thought for a few seconds.

“If you could go on a date with anyone in this room, who would it be?” Iris never tore her look away from him as she spoke. He could see Eddie blushing a bit before answering.

“It’s gonna sound lame, so lame.” He said embarrassed, and everyone shouted that he had to say it. Finally he looked up. “Iris.” He said and blushed a bit. Iris looked like a mix of surprised and pleased. Maybe pleasantly surprised.

Eddie continued the game by asking Dig, who chose dare and had to go the rest of the night shirtless. He continued by asking another football player called Drew, who chose dare and had to rhyme everything he said for the next few rounds. Then he chose Ronnie, who chose truth and had to tell how he felt about the kiss between him and Caitlin. He said it was a great kiss and that he was pleasantly surprised (at this point he saw Caitlin blushing and giggling).

“Okay let me see…” Ronnie continued the game. “Queen! Truth or dare.” He looked at Oliver, who was sipping soda in one of the cups (he was driving, after all).

“Dare.” He wasn’t much of a truth person, if he was going to be truthful he wouldn’t want it to be in front of a big group like this.

“Kiss Felicity.” Ronnie looked at him with mocking eyes. He hesitated for a long while, because he didn’t know how he felt about it (and he had no idea how Felicity felt about it). But sure, he had been dared so he stood up and sat beside Felicity. He looked into her eyes and put a hand on her cheek. She looked terrified and embarrassed, so he lingered with his lips almost by her lips.

“Okay?” He whispered so quietly that only she could hear it. She nodded slightly and put her hand over his on her face.

He then closed the distance between them, and his lips met her soft ones. She felt hesitant at first, but then she started to really kiss him back. The kiss was amazing, her soft lips felt amazing against his. He never wanted to let go of them, but the whole room was staring, so he let go. He looked into her eyes, and she looked in his. The whole room was cheering and shouting, but it was like all that noise around him was muted. He could only see her, her eyes. He then gave her a slight nod, and let go of her cheek. He didn’t move for the rest of the night. He sat beside her, their shoulders touching. The game of truth and dared continued. He didn’t quite pay attention to the game, because his hand was brushing against Felicity’s behind him and Felicity, and he felt his fingers dancing around hers.

At some point, Dig had to make out with Lyla, one of the cheerleaders. Iris had to kiss Barry, which she looked uncomfortable with at first, but then it turns out she really went with it, and they kept kissing for the rest of the evening. When the evening was getting a bit late, everyone was doing their own thing. Iris and Barry were still kissing on one of the couches, and everyone was scattered around in the house. Oliver asked Felicity if she wanted to go, and she had nodded.

When they got into his car, he looked at her before he started driving.

“Sorry if that wasn’t okay.” He apologized. She shook her head, and he remembered she had been drinking a little bit. Not much, but he didn’t know if she had to drink a lot before the alcohol affected her.

“No, you did ask me before you kissed me. It was a dare, it’s not like we had a choice.” He nodded and looked at his hands.

“It’s just that I wanted it to be a bit more special than that.” He was still looking down at his hands.

“ _It_?” She asked, looking at him confused. He looked at her and smiled.

He leant over and crushed his lips with hers. She moaned softly in surprise, but then grabbed his neck and kissed him back.

And he knew, in that moment.

God, he wanted her then.


	5. Chapter 5

_Felicity Smoak_

When Felicity woke the next morning, she felt a slight headache. She thought about last night, she didn’t drink that much. Yet, her head felt heavy, so she grabbed a glass of water and made herself a toast. Halfway eating her slightly burnt toast her eyes shot up.

Holy shit. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

They had kissed, and not only because it was a dare. He had kissed her in his car. He had told her _he wanted it to be a bit more special_ than their ‘dare-kiss’.

Her hand reached for her mouth, and she could remember the feel of his lips. His tender lips against hers, and how he had groaned silently when she had kissed him back. She could remember how his breath had felt like, a faint taste of soda and mint. The way he had put his hand on her cheek, and how she had put hers over his hand.

She could still feel his lips on her lips, and she could still feel his motions during the kisses.

She drank the rest of her water and put the toast in her mouth and ran up to her room. She took her phone up and texted Caitlin.

_FS: Oh my God! Cait, did last night really happen?_

_CS: Ikr! We both kissed our crushes!_

_FS: Oh God, he kissed me when he drove me home too!!_

_CS: What? We need to talk, rn! Can I come over?_

_FS: Sure, my mom is at a business trip._

_CS: I’ll be there in five._

Caitlin got there in four minutes, which was a new personal record. She was panting as she stormed up on her room.

“This is amazing.” She laughed.

“Yeah I know, who would have thought it would happen at the same night, let alone happen all together?” Felicity laughed too.

“Did you see Barry and Iris last night?”

“Yeah, what happened between those two? I know Iris hasn’t really thought that way about Barry much. We all know Barry has, but Iris? We both saw how she wanted it in that last second before she kissed him.” Felicity looked at Caitlin, who was frowning.

“I don’t know. Iris hasn’t really been talking much about Barry to us, has she?”

“No. Hey, did you see what happened to them after I left?”

“No, I left pretty soon after you left. Should we call them?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Felicity shot up and grabbed her phone. She pressed on Iris’ name and the phone rang.

“Hello?” A sleepy voice answered. “What the hell Felicity, I was sleeping.” Iris sounded grumpy.

“Sorry, it’s just that me and Cait was wondering what happened last night?”

“What happened? You tell me, I think I was a bit too drunk. Did I kiss someone last night? My lips are soar.” A giggle erupted from Caitlin. “What? What is it?” Felicity couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her.

“Nothing, nothing.” She laughed.

“Felicity you tell me right now what happened! Who did I kiss?”

Felicity waited a while, and looked at Caitlin who was busy burying her head in a pillow and laughing hysterically.

“I’m not sure you want to know.” She could hear a furious sight come from the other end. “You really want to know?” She waited a while before she answered.

“Yes. Please tell me.” Iris pleaded.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. And don’t blame us or anyone else, included the person you kissed. Because you were actually the one who controlled the situation, and because you kissed Barry.”

There was a strange choking sound coming from the other end right after she had said it, but immediately after there was only silence.

“Oh…” She just said, sounding like she was going to cry. Caitlin and Felicity looked at each other with confused faces. What was happening?

“Iris, are you okay?” Felicity looked more confused than before.

“No, I’m sorry I can’t talk about this. Sorry, I gotta go…” She hung up before they could protest.

“Uh…” Caitlin looked like she didn’t know what to say. “So how was the kiss?”

Felicity looked at her and smiled.

 

Later that day Caitlin had to go home because her parents were throwing some fancy dinner with all the doctors (her parents were both surgeons). Felicity was left alone in the house, reading a book on her bed. She could hear the familiar knock on her window, and smiled as she saw the boyish grin Oliver had on with his backwards baseball cap on. She opened it and let him in. The evening was surprisingly warm, and he was only wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.

“It’s like you have a new style.” Felicity said eyeing him.

“Yeah, wanted to change a few things.” He took his hat off and one of his hands went through his short-cut hair. She shook her head and laughed.

“What?” He laughed.

“Don’t do that, it’s irresistible.” He looked surprised.

“Really? Maybe I should be doing it more then.” He started going through his hair with both of his hands now, and she laughed at how silly it looked.

“God, Lis. At first I’m worried I’m making a fool of myself, but seeing you laugh is worth it.” She probably had a shocked look on her face, because he suddenly looked a bit like he had said something wrong. He had not only called her _Lis_ (which was more than fine, coming from him), he had said he’d make a fool of himself to make her laugh. It was all so sweet.

“Right.” She said after a while. “To what do I owe the pleasure of _yet another_ visit through my window? Although, my mom went on a business trip earlier today, so you could just have gone through the door.” He laughed and looked down at his feet.

“Then that would just take the fun out of everything, now wouldn’t it?” He said and smiled.

“Certainly would be a lot more safe.” She raised her shoulders as she looked at him, he was looking at her and smiling a genuine, warm smile.

“I’m not a fan of playing it safe, Lis.” She smiled again at his use of _Lis_.

“You do realize you run a risk of falling and potentially dying each time you do that?” He smiled, once again that warm smile, with a hint of laugher this time. “We’re not invincible, and we’re not going to live forever either.”

“Oh, Ms. Smoak, whose to say we won’t live forever?” His words could always baffle her, like they came straight out of some book. He had a wonderful way with words.

“What are you reading?” He walked over to her bed and picked up her book.

“Paper Towns, by John Green. It’s a really great book.” He saw her bookmark early in the book and looked at her confused while he pointed at it.

“How do you know, you’ve only read a few pages?”

“I’ve read it before.” She looked at her feet in some sort of mild embarrassment, he probably thought she was so lame.

“That good, huh?” He smiled and put the book back. “So, what’s it about then?” He sat down on her bed lightly in the corner. She smiled up at him and begun to explain.

“So, there’s this girl, Margo, who moves in next door to Quentin, who is a shy guy. He falls in love with her immediately, but they become strangers over the years as she moves up the popular scale and he doesn’t. She is this badass girl who always does cool things and goes on adventures. One night she comes through his window and brings her on this amazing adventure, and he gets to experience an adventure with her. The next day she is gone and that’s where the mystery begin, because she leaves clues to where she has gone to and he sets out to find her.” She blushed when she realized how similar their story was, maybe that was why she loved it so much. “Are you sure you haven’t read this book?” She laughed as she saw his baffled face.

“How does it end?” He asked softly.

“I shouldn’t spoil it for you.” She said softly back.

“I want to know.” She nodded and began explaining.

“Okay, so he goes on this road trip when he has figured out all these clues, and when he finds her she explains to him that she wrote this story about them and that her main character, which is her, has a crush on the other main character, which is him. But he’s going to Duke, and she doesn’t want to go to college, so they have to say goodbye to one another.” His eyes were focused on her, and he didn’t say anything for another moment. He just looked at her.

“That’s the thing about books; the author gets to decide how it ends. In real life, we do.” Oliver said, and she sat beside him. The air between them was starting to feel electric, she wanted to lean in and kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her back, and to lean them over in her bed. That was what she wanted, but she knew it wasn’t going to happen.

“You still haven’t answered.” She said, almost a whisper.

“Answered what?” The look he gave her almost sent her jumping at him. She was able to resist the urge.

“You never answered what you were doing here. Usually, when you show up in the evenings you want to go somewhere.”

“Yes, there is a reason. I was wondering if you wanted to organize the revenge plot today.” Felicity got confused, he wanted to do the whole thing today.

“Why do you want to do it today?”

“I just need to do it now, I can’t go on anymore pretending. Besides, I have plans I need to do that requires me having cut the ties to them.”

“What plans?”  
“I can’t tell you that. Not yet.” She nodded, she didn’t want to intrude on his personal matters. However, she was about to intrude on his personal matters. Getting revenge on them was actually _his personal matter_. Either way, she let it go. When the news came out in the near future, however, she would wish she hadn’t let it go.

“Okay, so I have this idea. We want them not only to be embarrassed. We want them to know it is us. I want them to regret having pushed me around, lying and making a fool out of me. I want them to feel it.”

“How do we do that?”

“First, we _will_ embarrass them. But that’s not the whole plan. Okay, they usually hook up whenever Laurel’s dad is out. He’ll be out in an our, if my memory is correct he goes out with a few buddies every Saturday.” If she had thought about it better, she could have figured out that tonight was a Saturday, and that if they were going to do this another day it would have to be one of the next Saturdays. If only she had known he did it this Saturday only because he didn’t have another Saturday with her to do it on.

“So, let me see. The embarrassing part has to be them being caught. After all, exposing them is the one thing we should do, agree?” He looked over at her with a hopeful expression.

“Yes, it sounds like the thing to do.” Felicity nodded as she agreed.

“Okay, so then onto the more deep stuff. If we are going to do something that hits them hard, then we need to go down to the facts about them.” He looked at her, almost expecting her to blow him away with facts about Tommy and Laurel. She just frowned at him in confusion.

“What? Why are you looking at me? I don‘t know either of them that good!” He opened his mouth, remembering that she didn’t know.

“Sorry, it’s just that I forgot that. It feels like I’ve known you my whole life. Can’t seem to remember you aren’t actually mad at them.”

“I’m mad at them!” She looked him in the eyes, with certainty.

“You are? But they hurt me, not you.” He looked at her in the eyes, confused.

“Oliver, I’m mad at them because they hurt you like this. They _are_ hurting you like this!”

“No, I’m not really hurt about it anymore. I wouldn’t have kissed a really great girl in my car if I was.” She was a bit shocked by what they were saying to each other. She wanted to kiss him, again, but they seemed locked at their spots.

“Okay, give me some facts about them.”

“Uh, okay Tommy has this weird thing about making his dad proud. We could use that against him. I don’t really know if he has any other soft spots.”

“And Laurel?”

“She never wanted us to be very vocal about our relationship. Meaning: she never wanted me to share anything about our intimate acts.” Felicity made a sort of unpleased sound when he said _intimate acts_ (which she didn’t mean to do, it just came out). He looked at her with eyes that said ‘sorry’.

“I think I have an idea.” Felicity started scribbling down their plan in a notebook. At first, all the details of how the embarrassment was going to go down. Then she scribbled her plan for the next part. When she finished, she looked over at him. He was staring at the notebook.

“Ms. Smoak, this is as brilliant as you. Or, maybe not, there is not many things that are.” He then turned his face to her, looked at her and then grabbed her face. He placed a firm kiss on her lips. Not like their first two times, this was rougher, and it felt more like need. She kissed him back.

And she knew him, she didn’t have to worry about a shield forming any wall between them. She knew who he was. And as he kissed her, she could feel all his emotions.

Just like the night of the tower, where she had seen his vulnerabilities. Now, she felt them; all his emotions and all his vulnerabilities.

She could feel the presence of _him_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone noticed, I changed the story to a 2 part one (first one named Before), and in light of the name of the first part, the obvious name of the second one is After. The After is coming - be prepared - and in this chapter I sort of hinted at it. Hope you enjoyed it though, and we will have more of the two, I assure you that :)


	6. Chapter 6

_Oliver Queen_

 

Oliver was driving after running a few errands before they were going to Laurel’s house. He was wearing a dark green hoodie with the hood pulled over his head. His car stopped in front of her house, and she locked her door and ran inside their car. She was wearing a marine blue hoodie and she had her glasses on, as usual. The evening had turned out to be quite windy, so it was starting to get really cold too. After she had gotten into the car she looked behind her. Caitlin and Ronnie were sitting back in the backseats.

“Wait what are you doing here?” She looked at them, and then at Oliver with a confused expression.

“Well, I figured we could use some back-up, and then Ronnie wanted to come because he would very much like to be a part of this revenge plot.” He looked back at Ronnie who urged him to continue talking. “And Ronnie had one condition: that he could bring Caitlin so that they could make out in the back seat.” He said it with slight dis-interest, as he did suspect Ronnie had a thing for Caitlin. He had explained he was seeing a girl and that they had been making out one day and both of them had been late to class. He had then remembered Caitlin being late. He had found it strange, she didn’t seem like the girl who would show up late.

Ronnie nodded and turned to a slightly blushed Caitlin and started kissing her. Oliver chose to ignore them, and looked at Felicity. She was looking at them with what he would describe as shock and somewhat happiness for her friend.

He turned down the street and over to the house division that only contained houses only the rich could afford. He hated that part of the city, because it only had snobs and people, who thought of themselves as better just because their bank accounts contained more money that other people’s.

Once Laurel had understood this. They had been dating before her father took up and investment and made a shitload of money. She had shared his thoughts on it, and then she became one herself. That’s when everything started to shift. She kept urging Oliver to move back to his father’s mansion, even though she knew how much he hated the mansion. He figured she was embarrassed that her wealthy boyfriend chose to live like a non-wealthy person. He resented her for this, and was about to break up with her too. He chose not to because he had convinced himself that this wasn’t something that was going to last. He had known her for so long, and dated her for a long time too. He loved her in a way, and that meant something to him.

Now it was like a fading memory. The thought of loving her made his stomach turn. His head was filled with thoughts about her and Tommy. He felt sick. He gently pulled over to one of the streets and got out of the car just before he started to hurl up everything inside him.

“Oh God, Oliver!” He heard Felicity shouting behind him. She sounded worried, but truth was that he had sort of needed it. He didn’t feel sick when he thought about them anymore, he had gotten it out of his system. He stood up and spat before taking out a mint gum and putting it in his most likely smelly mouth.

“Sorry about that.” He murmured as he got into the car again.

“Are you okay?” Again, she sounded worried. He just looked at her and answered simply ‘yes’, before driving off again.

“Are you going to tell us why you just puked all over the sidewalk?” He could hear Ronnie muttering a complaint about it being disgusting.

“I just needed to let it out.” He simply answered.

“Okay, well then let’s shove that out of our minds.” Felicity continued, ignoring Ronnie’s ‘easier said than done…’ comment from the back. “We need to make another stop.” Oliver turned to her.

“What? Where?” He didn’t understand what more they could possibly do before going to Laurel’s. She started doing something on her phone as she spoke to him.

“We need to pick up Barry and Iris.” He made a choked laugh as he drove on.

“I don’t have room for two more people, Lis.” In the backseat Ronnie and Caitlin were busy making out again.

“Yeah well Cait is practically sitting on Ronnie’s lap either way. Hey, Ronnie, you okay with that?” He gave them thumbs up and she looked at Oliver pleased as he turned to the direction of their street. He mumbled something about it being illegal before just shutting up and driving. Felicity started texting someone on her phone.

After five minutes he pulled over on the house Felicity explained was Barry’s, and sure enough, the scrawny kid came out the door with Iris right behind him. They got into the car, and both of them looked sort of nervous and awkward.

“So, let’s try not to think about this being illegal while at the same time pray that we don’t get pulled over.” Oliver talked with a grumpy voice. Caitlin was now sitting in Ronnie’s lap, him whispering something to her every now and then and getting a giggle from her in response.

After another ten minutes of driving, they finally pulled over at a few houses away from Laurel’s.

“Okay, since we’re more people, the job is going to become a little more easier.” Oliver began, but was interrupted by Felicity.

“See, if you hadn’t listened to me then it wouldn’t be easier!” He gave her a moody stare and she closed her mouth.

“We’ll split up. Barry and Iris will keep watch outside the house as we enter. Caitlin and Felicity will make sure Laurel and Tommy gets out of Laurel’s room so that me and Ronnie can enter and leave a message.”

He got out and opened the trunk and pulled out a duffel bag. Everything they needed he had bought and put in the bag.

“Let’s go Ronnie.” He and Ronnie started running towards her house. Ronnie was wearing a hoodie too, and both of them had the hoods pulled over their heads. They both kept their heads low as they approached her house. He sent Felicity a text:

_OQ: Got the text ready?_

_FS: Yup. She’s gonna get a text from her dad whenever you’re ready._

_OQ: Brilliant, thanks Lis._

“Okay, if you’re finished sexting with Felicity we can move on to the house.” Ronnie muttered. He saw Barry and Iris walking behind them looking in every direction.

“Laurel’s bedroom is on the second floor, but if I can get into that tree I can get a clear shot of them together.” Ronnie handed him the camera he had bought and jumped up and grabbed one of the branches. The tree was high enough to reach the second floor of the house and it was located outside her window. He had noticed it many times when he had been over, and he had planned this carefully. The tree was at a perfect angle to the bed, and he could now see them. Laurel was sitting on top of Tommy (naked) who was just as naked. He could only see her back and Tommy’s calves, but he could still get a good photo of them. He clicked the button a considerable amount of times before jumping down from the tree and landing perfectly on his feet.

“Dude, you’re like a fucking ninja!” Ronnie was staring at him with baffled eyes.

“Barry!” He whispered-shouted it over the hedge where Barry and Iris were looking out. He came around the hedge and over to Oliver, and Oliver handed him the camera.

“Get Iris to deliver this to Felicity, but I need you to look out because we’re gonna go do the next step.” He nodded and ran off with the camera. Oliver looked at him sprinting over the lawn and around the hedge. He was surprisingly fast.

They moved on into the house, which was unlocked, and they sneaked into the kitchen as quietly as they could. Ronnie then put on the stove.

“Did you get the rats?” Ronnie whispered after he had put on the stove, another part of the plan.

“Yeah.” He pulled out a cage of four rats and released them into the kitchen. They all ran off in different directions. He sent Felicity a text:

_OQ: Stove has been put on, and rats have been released. Time for the text!_

The answer came a minute later.

_FQ: Ready! The text has been sent._

They heard a noise from a phone from the second floor, and ran through the living room and towards the stairs. There was a room under the stairs where they could hide when Laurel and Tommy would come down. They could hear Laurel talking to Tommy about getting a text from her father _who had left the stove on._

Laurel came running down the stairs with a blanket around her, she went through the living room to get to the kitchen.

That’s when they heard the scream and the sound of a cat running wild around chasing rats. “TOMMY! OH MY GOD, TOMMY! HELP!” They heard Laurel screaming from the back of her throat. Tommy came running down the stairs clumsily and left for the kitchen.

They took the chance and ran upstairs towards her room.

“Nice job!” Ronnie whispered. He gave him a fist bump and started getting out the supply.

He handed a spray paint to Ronnie.

“Write on the wall over her bed.” He gave him a note.

Then he texted Felicity:

_OQ: Success! We’re in the room. Have you gotten the pics and hacked her Facebook? It’s time to hack her computer, I need to get in._

_FS: I’m already ahead of you. Check the computer._

 

Sure enough, there it was. On her Facebook profile there was a huge mess. Felicity had changed her profile photo to one of the photos he took of them with huge letters saying “ADULTRY” over the photo, which she also had posted on Laurel’s and Tommy’s Facebook walls. Felicity had also written that she (Laurel) _was a cheater who had been fucking Tommy while dating Oliver Queen._ There was also written something about her (Laurel) wanting to have them both at the same time.

He then took out a note and left the computer on her bed open. He fastened the note to the computer. It said:

_Thanks for showing me who you really were, both of you. Now I know who is really my friends. We are definitely over. Have a good life without me, because this will be the last of me you will see._

He then took out another spray paint and sprayed ‘ADULTRY’ all over the wall. He looked over at Ronnie, he had sprayed ‘MR LANCE YOUR DAUGHTER IS A CHEATER AND IS FUCKING TOMMY MERLYN’ on the wall over her bed. He laughed and wondered how she was going to be able to hide this from her dad.

They realized they didn’t have much time left, so he opened the window and let Ronnie go out first. He heard a thud and then a curse and leaped out the window and grabbed a branch before letting go and gloriously landing on his feet. Ronnie was lying on the ground.

“Hey, bud, are you okay?” Oliver looked at him concerned.

“Yeah I’m fine, I’m just not good at this like you. One of the fucking branches gave out on me, dude. I fell on my back, but I’m all good. We gotta leave right now.” Oliver helped him up and ran behind the hedge where they got Barry and Iris to run along. They all reached the car panting and sweating.

“We succeeded!” They all cheered as they got into the car. Felicity was smiling.

He noticed how her smile was: her eyes sort smiling just as much as her mouth. Her glasses only highlighting how glorious her eyes were. And yes, her smile was almost the smile she had the first time they had met. It was almost the smile he had been searching for each day of school when he walked by her. He was staring into her eyes, and she was staring into his. The car was cheering in the backseat and she was laughing, but the sound was beginning to faint. All he heard was her cheerful laugh. In that moment she became irresistible.

He leant in and grabbed the back of her head and crashed his lips with hers. She grabbed his head gently and kissed him back. He let go and their foreheads were touching. In the back Ronnie was watching them and giving them an approving nod, while Caitlin was smiling while looking over at Barry and Iris who were also kissing. Their kiss was innocent, but he swore he had never seen Iris quite like this. Her whole face was glowing, and she looked immensely happy. He looked over at Felicity again and kissed her one more time before starting the car. He looked at his watch. The clock was nine fifty-four.

“So, the night is still young. Mostly. What does everyone say to a quick road trip?” He looked back at them. They were all cheering and agreeing.

“Where to?” Felicity asked.

“My parents have a house in Central City, and there is this annual celebration of this scientific breakthrough tonight! There's going to be fireworks and everything! We could stay the night there and drive home tomorrow morning!”

“Is everyone okay with that?”

They all agreed. He drove off. Central City was about three hours away. He turned on the radio, and to his pleasant surprise, it was playing ‘The Unknown’ by Imagine Dragons. Flashes to the night of the tower when they had danced filled his head, and he looked at Felicity. Her eyes had watered, but her face had this great smile all over it.

And yes, her smile was almost the smile she had the first time they had met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! It was a difficult chapter, but I'm happy about how it turned out! Next chapter will be the roadtrip! Everyone who likes this story should be excited for it!


	7. Chapter 7

_Oliver Queen_

The first hour everyone was wide-awake singing along to the radio. It felt amazing driving through the darkness on empty roads, singing your gut out along with various artists on the radio. Felicity had taken off her glasses, her ponytail was long gone and her feet were against the dashboard. She looked free somehow. He couldn’t explain what he felt right now. He had broken up with Laurel, and he felt free. He felt free driving out of town with a girl he loved. Yes, _a girl he loved._ He knew it now. Less than a week ago they were strangers, and now it felt like he didn’t know anyone better than he knew her. He remembered their conversation the first night, about responsibilities. It was like he had somehow let go of everything in that lousy city that had only brought him pain and sadness. And now, he was free of all of them. Nothing weighed him down, and he was driving on an open road with a girl he loved next to him.

The sky had gone from shades of blue to an utter blackness. The car fell silent during the second hour. His calculations had been a bit wrong, as everyone had told him during the first hour. It would take at least four hours by car to get to Central City. By train it was three hours, so he had miscalculated it. Everyone around him was sleeping, and the only sounds he heard were faint snores and the sound of the car driving. He felt relaxed.

He felt Felicity shift to her side so that she was facing him. Her feet were huddled underneath her and her hands were tucked under her chin. She looked so beautiful. Her wavy hair was covering large portions of her face, but he could still see her beautiful traits. He noticed she was slowly opening her eyes and looking at him. Her eyes were sleepy and barely open, but still focused on him.

“Is everyone sleeping?” She whispered, not moving from her position. He checked the rearview mirror. Ronnie was sleeping with Caitlin lying (sleeping) on his chest. Barry and Iris had their heads leaning together as they both slept.

“Yeah.” He whispered softly to her, continuing watching the road.

“I had a great time tonight.” She whispered softly and sleepily to him.

“Me too, you did great.” They fell silent for a little while as he watched the road. The road was still silent, with no cars in sight. The clock was eleven by now. He suspected she had gotten back to sleep, but she continued the conversation not long after.

“So how did it feel, getting revenge?” She looked at him still, her eyes fixated on his focused face.

“I don’t really know if it felt great. All I know is that it made me feel free, which _is_ great. So in a way, it did feel great.” She giggled softly, her eyes closing for a while.

“So, what’s next?” She opened her eyes again after speaking, looking at him with questioning eyes.

“What do you mean?” He didn’t look at her. He focused on the road instead.

“I mean after this weekend, what will happen then? Will everything change now?” He couldn’t look at her, not while giving her an answer he didn’t know was true.

“I don’t know.” He didn’t continue, and maybe she got the hint. He didn’t want to talk about it.

“Finals are coming up. Do you think you’re ready?”

“Sure. I mean, I don’t know but I think I’ll do fine.”

“Good.”

“You don’t want to talk about finals, do you?”

“No.”

“You want to talk about us.” She didn’t answer, but he knew he was right. “When we get to my dad’s house, we can talk for ourselves.” He nodded towards the rearview mirror, which showed the rest of the gang in the back. She nodded in agreement.

She looked like she was about to fall asleep, but was fighting to stay awake.

“Go back to sleep, Lis.” He gave her a soft smile and she closed her eyes.

He was again left as the only one awake, and he kept driving until he saw the clock was at midnight and he felt like he was about to fall asleep in front of the wheel.

He stopped at a 7-eleven and bought a Red Bull. The entire car was still sleeping, and he finally felt the caffeine kick in.

He drove for another hour until most of them woke up and they put on the radio once again. There were only one hour left of their drive, and he stopped at a gas station so that everyone could get a coffee or Red Bull to stay awake.

The car was quickly filled with singing and jokes. Sometime during their final hour they played games too, and Oliver felt like he was with the right people. He liked her friends, and how Ronnie was with the rest of them. He thought that maybe he and Ronnie was starting to become best friends. They had sort of always been that, in a way. But then Tommy came along, and maybe Ronnie always felt he was sort of in the sidelines. However, during the year when he had known about Laurel and Tommy, they started to become closer. He liked Ronnie, he was more like him and more true than Tommy had ever been.

They arrived in Central City about two o’ clock and found their way to his house quickly. It was a big house, and even though he had never approved; it did feel kind of right. He liked the house for the time being.

“Look guys!” Caitlin was pointing up at the dark sky.

There were fireworks all around them.

Ronnie grabbed Caitlin from behind and rested his head on her shoulder. Barry and Iris were standing sort of awkwardly side by side holding hands.

Oliver took Felicity with him to the gardens and beyond that. Right behind their house was a park, and he took her to a white bridge. There were trees all around them, but right under the bridge there was an opening that showed fireworks.

“It’s beautiful.” She whispered. He grabbed her waist and put his forehead against hers.

“So are you.” She looked up at him and grabbed his face. She pressed her mouth against his, and he noticed that this was the first time that she had kissed him and not the other way around. He liked that she took the control like that. It was a reminder that at least some of his feelings were unrequited.

She let go and one of her hands stayed on his cheek, letting her fingers run over the slight stubble he had.

“Thank you for this week.” She whispered looking at him with beautiful blue eyes.

“I should be thanking you.” She laughed quietly and kissed him once more. Their bodies stayed pressed against one another, and in the slightly chilly night he could feel the warmth of her body. He kissed her a little harder, and she started pressing him even more against her.

“Let’s go inside.” She whispered, her voice shivering from the chilly night air. “Let’s go alone inside.” His breath hitched with her words. He nodded and took her hand as she guided him through the park, through the garden and into the house.

“We should go into a more private room. Where did you use to sleep in this house?” Her hand never left his. She had this newfound confidence about her, her whole essence glowed, and she had this great smile.

“Up the stairs to the left.” He couldn’t tear his eyes from her, her warm hand clutching his as she guided him up the stairs and into his room.

The room hadn’t changed since the last time he was here, which was over the summer last year. He sat down on the bed in the middle of the big room while she went over to his desk where a photo of him, his mom and his dad from back when they were together.

“Did you remember what I told you the night of the tower?” Oliver broke the silence.

“You told me there was so much you wanted to tell me but that you couldn’t before we got out of the city.” She looked at him with a smile he hadn’t seen before.

“Yeah, and now we are far away. I want to tell you everything.”

“Then tell me.” She was leaning against his desk, as she looked him in the eyes.

“The night I took you out I had to see you, but I never understood why. I didn’t know what I felt for you, not until now.” She was walking towards him, taking off her hoodie and throwing it on the floor.

“Tell me, Oliver.” She was gazing at him with a look he had never seen on her. He didn’t recognize it. She took one step at a time, until she reached the end of the bed where he was sitting. She grabbed his neck, and since she wasn’t really that tall and he was, she didn’t have to bend much down to kiss him. She moved slowly, letting her mouth linger on his, never really kissing him. He could feel her breath on his mouth. “Tell me.” She whispered against his lips.

“I love you. God, I love you so much.”  When she heard his words she didn’t wait any longer. She crashed her lips with his and they moved as one.

She zipped down his hoodie, and he helped her take it off him. She grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. His chest was now exposed, and she saw her eyes travelling down his body. With gentle fingers, she trailed his stomach.

“God, you’re gorgeous.” She whispered, as she tore her eyes from his stomach and to his eyes.

“So are you.” He whispered back, and she took off her top, leaving her in only her bra.

“Felicity, I’m not a virgin.” He didn’t want to take advantage of her, or trick her in any ways.

“Neither am I, Oliver.” He was surprised, but then she started kissing him again. They continued kissing.

And she was like a song. She was written and perfected in so many strange ways. The result of it was breathtaking. He wanted to play the song, more than any other song he ever knew.

They weren’t each other’s firsts, but that didn’t matter to them. What mattered was that they were together, sharing _their_ first.

 

He woke up the next morning with her head resting on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her body. She was so beautiful as she slept on his chest. Her skin felt warm against his skin. She woke up and looked up at him.

“Hi.” She said, smiling. He smiled at her too and kissed her lightly on the mouth.

“Hey.” He said sleepily. “Did you sleep well?”

“Never slept better.”

“Me too.”

“I love you too, by the way. I have since the first time I saw you.” His chest felt so warm as her words made him grab her and kiss her like never before.

“We should probably get down and check on the others.” She whispered against his mouth.

“Oh, shit. Forgot about them.” He got up and put his clothes on, and as he was putting them on he sneaked a peek behind him as she was getting dressed. God, he never wanted to leave this room.

 

A few hours later they were on the road again, the mood in the car still as good as the previous night.  The fact that they all just had had a good night of sleep made the trip go by much faster. They played games and sang songs, and the trip was over before he knew it. He dropped them all off at their houses and then drove him and Felicity home.

They got out of the car and walked over to her house. He lingered by her door.

“Thank you for last night.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

“I should thank you too, it’s not like it was a one way trip.” She giggled as she pecked his lips.

“I love you.” He kissed her long, in a way that he could remember for a long while. He kissed her one last time, before he hugged her. He was saying goodbye without saying goodbye.

“I’ll miss you, Lis. I always want you to remember that this is not the end, but the beginning.” She nodded as he hugged her, and he took a step backwards. He walked away from her one step at a time.

He left her, knowing that she would soon hate him.


	8. Part 2: After

_Felicity Smoak_

 

Felicity woke up with a strange feeling. She felt cold, and not just because the weather outside that day was horrible but because the morning before she had woken up to the warm body of Oliver. Now she was all alone, a faint smell of rain hitting her as she noticed her window was open. She got up, even though her alarm wouldn’t go off for another hour, and closed the window. It looked like it was going to be a storm that day, and she tried looking into Oliver’s window to see if he was sleeping, but the rain fogged up the window too much to see anything. She took a shower, feeling the warm water get the cold out of her. The shower made her feel better, but she still had a strange feeling.

When she ate her breakfast she thought back on their night. It had felt so incredible to finally be _with_ him. She had made a choice then and there to just go for it. It was true that she wasn’t a virgin. She had slept with her previous boyfriend, Cooper, last year.

She was ready to go half an hour before she usually started driving to school, so she decided to pay Oliver a visit and see if he wanted to drive together. The wind was strong, and she should have known a storm was coming, there had been so much wind that Saturday. She ran over to his house and rang the doorbell. She clutched her arms, and realized she needed to go change into a warmer jacket. She stood there for about five minutes, freezing and shivering, before she tried opening the door. It was open, she thought maybe Oliver was busy or something.

When she got inside, the whole house was dark. It didn’t feel like a home, it felt like a shallow shell of a home. She didn’t feel any of the feelings she could when she walked into someone’s home. There were no pictures or any sort of life here. There were only fancy furniture and darkness.

“Oliver?” She called out his name while walking through the house. She tried calling his name again while walking up the stairs and towards his room. Every room was dark and abandoned, and when she got inside his room it didn’t look like it usually did through her window. The entire room was cleaned, and there were no traces of anything from Oliver. No clothes slung around, no personal belongings at all. She felt her breath hitch as she saw the shell his room had become. Had he left? Was he moving away from his house? Why hadn’t he told her?

His room felt like a cold prison of sorts. The entire house had no traces of someone ever living here. She felt like crying, so she ran out of the house and towards hers. She got her phone out when she got inside her house and tried calling him. No answer. She tried texting him. No answer. She even tried email, and even then she never got an answer. It was like he had just disappeared from existence. His phone went straight to voicemail, and his room had no traces of him. She felt like staying home, but the finals were coming up and they were coming faster than she had imagined so she needed to go.

When she got to school, she was met by Barry, Iris, Caitlin and Ronnie. Ronnie and Caitlin were walking hand in hand.

“How fun was this weekend?” Iris smiled like she never had before. Felicity wasn’t feeling up to cheering with her, so she just nodded and smiled.

“Yeah.” She walked over to her locker and got her chemistry books. She had a faint hope that she would somehow see him there, that all of this had a reasonable explanation.

“What is up with you? Considering what went down between you and Oliver over the weekend you should be jumping up and down.” Felicity looked at her confused. “Like we wouldn’t know.” She sighed and dropped her head back on her locker.

“I think Oliver is gone.” She whispered it, saying it quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear. They all looked confused at her.

“What? What do you mean you think Oliver is gone?” Caitlin looked at her with concerned eyes.

“I went to his house, and there is nothing there.” Ronnie looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.

“Nothing? Like, all the furniture is gone?” Iris laid her hand on her shoulder as she felt her eyes tear up.

“No, like there is nothing personal there. It’s been a long time since I was inside his house, I know, but I know how Oliver’s room looked like from my window and it’s like he just packed up and left. The house is like a ghost, like no one has lived there for the past ten years.” She felt the tears come, and Iris led her into an empty classroom, and the others followed behind them.

“How could this happen? I mean, do you know for sure?” Barry spoke like he wanted to reassure her that everything was normal. He was a great guy for trying, but she knew it wouldn’t work.

“No, but he won’t answer me. He hasn’t answered me on anything.”

“Look, this all sounds strange, but we should wait. If we haven’t heard from him by tomorrow, we’ll call his dad.” Iris reassured her and pulled her in for a hug. She wanted to hug her friend back, but her arms wouldn’t let her. Her arms stayed put where they were.

It felt like someone had left a hole in her. And someone had; Oliver. Maybe there was hope, and maybe they were right, but she couldn’t get herself to believe it.

She remembered the last time they spoke. It had felt so much like a goodbye. Even though it technically _was_ a goodbye, it had felt like he was saying goodbye to her forever. Like he’d never see her again. She had felt it, but she thought he might have been tired from the drive or something. And then he had said the last words she had heard from him; _I always want you to remember that this is not the end, but the beginning._ What had he meant by that? Now that she thought about it, she should have known.

She should have gotten the hints; the way he had spoken about this city, like wanting to get out of it. The way he had rushed the revenge plot, because he knew he was going to leave the city, leave _her_ , when Monday came. The road trip he had promised her, it was done on the same day. And how could he leave her like that? How could he sleep with her and tell her he loved her when he knew he was going to drop her on Monday? What kind of person could do that?

She told herself once more that maybe Iris was right; maybe he wasn’t gone. Yet again, she couldn’t believe herself.

That school day was the longest one she had ever been through. Classes just wouldn’t go by. The clock kept ticking, but it felt like it was going one step further and then two steps back.

When she got home, she couldn’t help herself. She went inside his house once more, just to look again if he was there. She couldn’t find anything once more, and the only thing she found that resembled a personal belonging was a note with his father’s phone number. She couldn’t help herself. She had to call him. However, she had forgotten her phone in her house, so she decided to use the landline.

He picked up after three rings, almost like he was waiting for Oliver to call.

“Oliver? Is that you?” His voice was stern, but loving at the same time.

“No, this is your neighbor, Felicity Smoak.” She tried sounding like she wasn’t about to cry, but she couldn’t figure out if she did sound like that.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just worried about Oliver. He hasn’t picked up on his cell.”

“Yeah, Mr. Queen, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. The door was unlocked, so I went in to check on Oliver, but he isn’t here.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know, it’s like he just packed up everything that belonged to him. I can’t find him or get in contact with him.” There was a long silence on the other end.

“Ms. Smoak, don’t move. I’ll be there.” He hung up before she got to answer. She didn’t know what to do, if she was going to wait for him. She decided to wait.

After ten minutes she heard the car outside. And moments after a middle-aged man came through the door. His eyes looked tired and he looked stern. He was wearing an expensive suit and his hair was blonde like Oliver’s, but only with more gray hairs in it. He looked like Oliver, his face was good looking and he had this beard that made him look like he was in power. Yet, she couldn’t feel the parent in him.

“You must be Felicity Smoak.” His voice was even more stern in person.

“Yeah.” She stuttered.

“I’m sorry, I was at work and I couldn’t really talk there. I’m really worried for him. He called me on Saturday and told me that he wanted to leave Starling, but I didn’t realize it was so soon.”

This was her confirmation. She felt like someone had punched her in the chest, even though she had known it.

“I’m having a difficult time processing why he would leave.” Her words made his expression change. It went from concerned to a look of understanding. She could tell he understood that they had loved each other, because his whole attitude towards her changed after that.

“I’m sorry, my son never liked Starling much. He was sort of obsessed with not having expectations on him and such. I’m sorry if he hurt you.”

“It’s fine.” She knew it sounded like the worst lie, and she could tell he had picked that up too.

“I’m really concerned, because I have no idea where he has gone. It doesn’t make much sense. He has so little time left at school before vacation.”

“I don’t know why he would leave.” She couldn’t fight back the tear that fell down her cheek. “I’m sorry, I have to go my mom is going to be home soon.” She walked past him and out of the door. When she got inside, she ran up to her room and buried herself in her bed and cried. She cried for a long time, and when her mom got home she knew she would instantly see that she had cried. Which she did, but her mom was an understanding person, so she let her go on without questions.

She lay in her bed for the rest of the evening. She thought about Oliver and one of their moments. It had been before they left the room in Central City. He had sneaked a peek at her while she dressed, so she went over to him and fooled a bit with him about it. He had once again amazed her with his words, like he could do sometimes. It was then that she had joked about him becoming a writer in the future. She had meant it as a joke, because she didn’t think that was what he wanted. But she saw this light form in his face, like he was somehow proud of himself. She saw him light up and she knew he considered it. She thought she would know his future, and that she would help him get there. The thought about not seeing him and not knowing where his future went made her want to scream. She wanted to see him, and to know his future.

The rest of the week went by, and Oliver never showed up. Even at school he was like a ghost. There were no traces of him, except the teachers asking them where he had went.

His father talked to the police, but since he was eighteen there wasn’t much they could do.

Felicity would think about him every day. She would think about how he left. She would think about how he could have told her so many times that he loved her, yet had left her like this. Like she didn’t matter to him.

And after many days of thinking that, she started to resent him.


	9. Chapter 9

_Felicity Smoak_

When the weekend came her friends tried to get her out having some fun, but she refused to leave her bedroom. Her thoughts couldn’t escape the empty window on the other end. She would wake up by the wind making the branches from the tree that Oliver used to climb into her bedroom with make noises.

Her mom tried to knock on her door to get her out because some friend was at the door. She didn’t care. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to think of the correct reason to why he had left her.

Had he known she would feel this way? Had he even thought about the fact that leaving her like this would hurt her this much because her father had chosen to leave her too? Maybe he hadn’t, because he was never that heartless. He was never cruel enough or selfish enough to make a choice like that.

Had he been kidnapped? Killed? No, she didn’t want to think about that. It felt better thinking that he had left her. She would never come back from it if he had died. She would never have survived.

Yet, the stinking feeling crept into her. She hated him for the fact that he chose to leave her without any information. She hated him for making her love him so much more, and then just leave her. She hated him for having her think that he really did love her too, because he couldn’t have. Not like he had told her, or like he had shown her.

There was a knock on the door once again.

“Go away, mom. I don’t want to talk.” Her voice was weak, like she had given up.

“It’s me.” Ronnie’s voice echoed in her mind, and he knocked once more. What was he doing here? “Can I come in?”

She thought for a long while before answering a ‘yes’ and letting him through the door.

He grabbed her tight and hugged her. She figured he had thought she needed it, but judging by the way he hugged her he needed it just as much. He smelt of a men’s perfume, and the scent made her want to keep hugging him. After a little while she started to need the hug too. She hugged him back tightly, letting her head sob into his shoulder. He kept holding her until she let go of him.

His eyes were glassy, and his hair was sort of messy.

“I’m sorry I just barked in here like that…”

“No. You didn’t, it’s fine.” She sat on the floor and leaned on the bed. He followed her, sighing as he slugged down on the floor against the bed.

“I can’t believe he just left like that.” His voice was a low murmur, and it was filled with disappointment and hurt.

“I’m sorry I have been acting so hurt, I mean, he left you too.” His face was blank and she could tell he was hurt.

“I just don’t understand him. I mean, it’s not like we ever talked about it, but we were best buddies. He never told me anything about leaving, and the fact that he spent that entire time getting to know us and getting us to care about him only to just leave like that makes me pissed.” He looked at her, his blue eyes catching hers. She never really thought about it, but he and Oliver looked a lot alike. Aside from his black hair while Oliver had dirty blonde hair, they looked like they were family. Caitlin had told her they were cousins. His face looked somehow tired, and she wished she could just hug him again without it being weird (she thought it might be a bit awkward since they hadn’t really spoken to each other much two weeks ago). She wanted to feel his warm embrace once more, because it did feel better and it did help. It might sound like she was into him, but she didn’t feel anything of those feelings towards him. He was like a supporting friend, in a strange way she had never felt. The way he looked at her, he  might have felt the same towards her. His eyes were hurt, and they were still focused on hers.

She decided to forget about the awkward thing, and she just hugged him again. His head fell on her shoulder, and she could feel he was breathing out. It was like he was struggling to breathe. She closed her eyes as she hugged him, letting the warmth of his body make her feel better. It made her feel supported, and they stayed hugging for a long time, both of them not wanting the other to let go, or to be abandoned again.

 

School days went by, and she decided to study her ass off. She also decided to study Ronnie’s ass off. Finals were next week, so they needed to study more than ever. She and Ronnie studied together almost every day. Often Caitlin would come too, but then Felicity would be left alone studying while they were busy kissing and being disgusting (Felicity’s opinion).

The fact that she and Ronnie were spending more and more time together was making her afraid that Caitlin was going to be mad or worried. She wasn’t. They talked about it, and Caitlin told her that she wanted them to hang out and become closer because Ronnie was feeling abandoned after Oliver left them, and he needed someone to try and fill the hole Oliver left. Caitlin understood that she wasn’t going to be able to fill the role of a best friend, because that relationship was so much more different than the one they had. Felicity didn’t just hang out with Ronnie for his sake, she also did it for herself.

In a way, he was like the friend she didn’t know she was missing out on. He was funny and nice in every way. The way he spoke about Caitlin made her heart melt, and the way he would open up to her sometimes made her feel like she was someone special to him. It was definitely the fastest friendship she had ever made with someone who had become so close to her so fast. In a way, it was a friendship based on mutual need for one another. She knew it sounded like it all happened so fast, but over the next month it became the most natural thing. They didn’t forget about Oliver, because he left something in them that would stick forever. However, they did manage to move on together in some way.

 

Some night she would think back on their night together. His skin had felt electric against hers. She had kissed his stubble, which had tickled against her neck as he had kissed and explored all of her. His breath had tasted like Red Bull, and his eyes had a fire in them. His body had been so beautiful, and his impressive muscles had been a great addition. Her hands had brushed his hair, and his buzz cut had sent tickles all over her hands. His lips had been soft, and all of him had seemed so true. He had, in a way, opened up even more than he had the night of the tower, and he was more vulnerable as she had ever seen him. His words had been true, and she knew that even after he was gone. She could remember the way he had looked so relaxed after hitting the peak of his high, and she had felt his chest go up and down each time he breathed and she heard the way his nose made this adorable sound as he slept.

That night he had been closer to her than ever, and now it was like he was further away than he had even been.

She thought back on their conversation the day after. It was a memory she wouldn’t forget, but also a memory she regretted.

 

_“Were you peeking at me?” She zipped up her jacket as she went over to him and hit him playfully on the arm. He grabbed her and spun her around with him once, her laughter spreading around in the room. His low laugh made her stomach fill with butterflies, and she grabbed his face and kissed him right after he let her go._

_“I love you.” She whispered to him. He smiled at her, and the resemblance to their first meeting made her breath hitch. She kept his face close to hers, her arms wrapped around his neck._

_“I love you too.” His voice was low, but she heard the way his voice was filled with relief._

_“So, what’s next for us?” She looked into his eyes, and he let go of her. He smiled at her and shook his head. “What? A little planning for the future is important.”_

_“I don’t think it’s what we plan that is important, but rather what we decide to do when it is happening.” She laughed a bit, and he laughed too. “What?”_

_“There you go again, amazing me with your words. You know, you should be a writer or something.” She went over to the mirror to put her hair into a ponytail. He never answered her. She looked back at him, and she saw the way his eyes had lit up and his mind was processing what she had just said._

_“Oliver, what is it?” Her voice sounded more excited about the answer than it should have._

_“Maybe you’re right. I’ve always been struggling with what I should do, but I think that would be perfect.” He ran towards her hand picked her up and swirled them around. “You know me, Ms. Smoak!” He shouted it as they spun around. Her laughter echoed in the walls as he lowered her he pressed their foreheads together._

_“I want to travel and experience so many things. I could write about everything I experience, and… I could write about you.” He looked into her eyes as he spoke, and she pressed her lips to his._

_“Better make it good then.” She whispered and he laughed again as he hugged her tightly and lifted her off the ground. “Like in Paper Towns, we have to get lost before we find ourselves, Oliver. I think we just lost the part of ourselves that stopped us from admitting that we loved each other on this trip, and we found ourselves in each other.”_

_“Yeah. God, right now I love Paper Towns.” He joked, and she started laughing as he buried his head in her neck._

_“You should. Maybe it’s the reason to why we’re here. Either way Oliver, I love you.” She kissed him._

_“We’re gonna do so much in our futures, Ms. Smoak. I like living for now. Let’s make the best out of it.”_

His words echoed in her head. Maybe he had started his travel? Maybe he had decided to make the best out of his life.

She got up from her bed and picked up her copy of Paper Towns. It was a bit worn out, but it was still her favorite book.

Then she noticed it: in the page she had bookmarked there was something else. She opened the book and found a folded piece of paper.

When she opened it her breath hitched and she stared at the handwritten note from Oliver.

 

_Felicity…_

_I hope you found this in time, because I was hoping you would pick up your favorite book and find this note. I’m also hoping you’re not too mad at me, because I just decided to leave for a week to go explore some things._

_I needed to go because I felt so strange. I’ve gotten the kind of happiness that I have never experienced before and I realized it’s what I have ever wanted, and that kind of freaked me out. Besides, I told you I needed to live for now. It was kind of spontaneous._

_I cleaned out all my stuff and put them in a storage unit because when I get back, I’ll ask if I can go live with Ronnie. I don’t want to live alone before I go off to college. I’ve decided to go to writing school!_

_I’ll be back a few weeks before finals, because I do need to graduate. I’ll call you as soon as I’m in Gotham, which is my first stop! It’ll probably be on Tuesday, so check your phone!_

_Love you._

_-OQ_

She felt the world fall apart as she read the letter. The realization that she got from the letter hit her like a brick wall. She felt sick, and she would have spilled her guts out if it weren’t for the fact that she blacked out.

The letter broke her world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the ending! I planned this for a long time through this story, and I know I probably made Oliver sound like the worst person ever in last chapter but that was never how he was.  
> You should prepare for the next and last chapter...


	10. Chapter 10

_Felicity_

The world never stopped spinning. It never stopped, even though it fell apart. The world kept spinning, even though she couldn’t follow anymore, it went on without her. Days went by. Finals went by. Her head stayed focused on school, because not focusing on school broke her. Letting her mind think of him made her chest feel like it was going to explode. The tears fell without her controlling it. She couldn’t get it to stop, even though she tried. She tried to think about anything else, but it was harder than anything she had ever done. Letting go of him was the hardest thing she would ever have to do.

When they found his body on the side of a road a few miles outside Gotham, she could never hold on to any hope. She could never again hope she would see his smile in the hallways.

He had driven on the open roads outside Gotham, which was surrounded by forests. A deer had run in front of his car and he had steered away from it, only to drive into the forest and hit a tree. The car had been crushed. The forest and roads were mostly abandoned around there, so after telling his dad about the letter they had sent out a search party who had found him.

The whole school had taken the news hard, and everyone’s day was always affected by the lack of his presence.

Ronnie wasn’t doing too good. Having someone abandon you is one thing, at least then you know _they’re_ okay. But now that he knew Oliver was truly gone, he felt it. He felt everything, and not even Felicity could help him. She couldn’t even help herself.

 

She stood in front of her mirror, checking that everything looked proper. Her black dress was like a sad song, and her face looked even sadder. Her hair was falling down in waves on her shoulders, and she had decided to leave the glasses and put on contact lenses. She breathed out, her breath coming out in stutters. She closed her eyes as hard as she could, and then walked out of her room. Her mom stood ready by the door waiting for her, and she looked at her with sympathy. She wrapped her arms around Felicity, and she could smell her mom’s perfume, reminding her of the nights she would get nightmares and her mom would save her from them by crawling into her bed and sleeping beside her and her perfume would always be a reminder that this was real life and nothing bad would happen. Her mom couldn’t save her from this nightmare. Because bad things do happen in real life, and we can try to avoid them, but they will always catch up with us.

“I’m so sorry, honey. God, I’m so sorry.” She felt her mom sob a bit as she hugged her.

She didn’t want to cry, at least not before the funeral. She wanted to go to the funeral looking nice.

The car ride to the funeral went by too fast, because she didn’t want to go to the funeral. She didn’t want to stand there and hearing someone else talk about Oliver like they knew him, because she was sure no one actually knew him like she had gotten to know him that last week.

The sun was shining even though this day would totally suck, and the graveyard was filled with people. People from school, and some people with really fancy suits, which she guessed was people from his dad’s firm. Robert Queen was standing in the first row, his eyes staring at the coffin. He turned his head and noticed her. He made a gesture with his hand for her to come over. She did.

“My condolences.” She said when she walked up to him.

“I should give you mine too, if I didn’t misread anything between the two of you.” His voice was sad, not like the one he had the other time she had met him. He looked about ten years older too, his eyes tired and filled with sadness. “I saved you a seat beside me, and one for your mother too.” He looked back at her mother who was talking to a woman who looked a bit like Oliver, and she assumed it was his mother.

“You didn’t have to… We have seats in the back.”

“You probably knew my son better than I did. Sit down.” His voice had this way of getting her to do as he said. She waved at her mother and sat down.

“I always knew he liked you.” He said after a while. His voice was low, and the murmur of people around them made it so that only she could hear it. “He always had this great smile whenever he came home after playing with you, one he never had with Tommy or anyone else.” He stared at the coffin again, and her eyes followed. The coffin was beautiful and white, with white and blue flowers. There was a photo of him next to the coffin, one of him with the great smile he had.

The priest started talking, and eventually people got up and read some eulogies for him. She could see his sister sniffing and wiping tears from her eyes, and she looked about nine years old. His mother spoke about it, but it was descriptions of him that didn’t fit the person he had become in his last years.

It was all so unbearable. The grief was hammered into her chest like a nail, and it was stuck there reminding her that it hurt. The tears came again without her controlling it, but she let them. She let them fall as long as they had to, because it didn’t make her feel any better but it did make her feel like a person. It made her feel like she was a person and not just this shell she was afraid she was going to become after having to let him go.

 

She stayed at the graveyard in the car alone for a long time after the funeral. She just sat there, staring at the road ahead of her that she refused to drive further on.

There was a knock on the window, and someone opened the door and sat down in the seat beside her. It was Tommy.

He looked at her, and then put his head against the headrest. His eyes were red from crying and his hair was a bit messed up, but he still looked like Tommy, the usual self-centered person he was. He didn’t say anything to her, and she didn’t say anything to him, because she didn’t know whether to kick him out or _kick_ him out.

“This sucks.” He said after a long time. She didn’t answer, why should she? “This fucking sucks.” Tears fell from his eyes, and she saw how hurt he looked.

“Why are you here?” She said in an angry voice.

“Look, I know you hate me…” He started, but she interrupted him.

“I don’t hate you, Tommy. I just don’t want to see your face here.”

“He was my friend too, and I know that I hurt him and that what I did was horrible, but even then I have a right to say goodbye to him, because he died. He was my best friend.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Maybe I wasn’t his in the end, but he was mine.”

“I’m not saying you don’t have a right to say goodbye, I’m just saying that I don’t want to see your face right in front of me here. I don’t want to be reminded of the horrible thing you did to him, and how hurt he was because of it. I want to remember him happy, not hurt.” The tears started falling from her eyes too.

“He might not have told me, but I know he loved you. I know because when we used to play together I could see it in his eyes. Something so innocent and pure, it had to be love.” He sighed as another tear fell. “I never got to say how sorry I was. I never got to explain myself either.” That was the last string.

“You didn’t get to explain yourself?” She yelled at him. “What fucking reason could you possibly have for sleeping with his girlfriend for a year behind his back?” He looked at her with wide eyes.

“I know it’s not a good reason for him to ever forgive me, but I saw that he was loyal to Laurel. I saw that he was never going to break up with her unless he saw the real person she was. She told me that she loved me once, but that she wouldn’t give up Oliver, she never loved him, she used him. So I slept with her, in hopes that I could show him that being with her was a mistake while the perfect girl for him was right next door.”

“You could have told him instead of sleeping with her for a year. Why did you keep that up, if you didn’t love her back?” It started raining heavily, the drops crashing against the windshield. Tommy stared into the rain as he spoke.

“Because I needed her, in some ways. I didn’t love her because I knew who she was, but it became some sort of mix between addiction and hope that he would catch us.”

“You wanted him to catch you? I’m sorry Tommy but that sounds like the worst bullshit I have ever heard. Who complies a shit plan like that?”

“I knew he would be hurt and mad. I just hoped I would be able to explain and for him to understand at least some of it. I knew he would never be my best friend after that, but I knew our friendship was doomed anyways. He always talked about leaving, and I love this city.”

“You were right, it’s not a good reason.”

“I know. At least now _you_ know it. Maybe that’s some relief to me now. Goodbye, Felicity.” He smiled at her, the best he could, and got out of the car. She stared at him walking slowly away. There she saw Oliver’s true revenge plan: the pain Oliver felt would never be as big as the pain and guilt Tommy was now feeling. He would carry it for the rest of his life, and Oliver had known that.

She could see Ronny running towards her car with his hands over his head. He was wearing a black suit with a black shirt and tie. The rain made it look impossibly darker.

He got inside and sat beside her, letting go of a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry, I was going to go to the reception but I needed to give you something first.”

She looked at him with confused eyes.

“What?” She saw him reaching into one of his inner pockets, and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to her and she saw Oliver’s writing on it, he had written _Ronnie._

“What is this? Why are you giving it to me?”

“I got it in the mail yesterday, and I didn’t read it until this morning. It’s a letter from Oliver to me that he apparently sent weeks ago, but you know how postal stuff can mess shit up. It was for me, but I think it’s more important for you to read it.”

He was about to get out of the car when she grabbed his arm.

“Please stay, I don’t want to be alone when I read it.” He nodded and closed the door again.

She pulled out the piece of paper and folded it out. Before she read it she closed her eyes, and Ronnie grabbed her hand and held it.

“Go on, Felicity. Read it.” He gave her a nod and a slight smile, but she saw the tears in his eyes.

She read it.

 

_Ronnie,_

_I’m sorry I just left like that. Now that I am so far away I realize I should have told you first. I realized I might have hurt some of the people closest to me, but that’s the thing about humans; we ruin everything good, and if not immediately then it is bound to happen some day. We, the humans, are the most brilliant mistake the earth has ever created._

_There are actually a lot of things that I should have told you about and talked to you about. So I’m going to tell you the most important story of my life: Felicity Smoak._

_Our story began one day when I moved right beside her house. Her blue eyes looking into mine through her squared glasses. As I got to know her, I realized she was the greatest mystery of my life. We grew apart one day, setting ourselves in different paths. However, one faithful night I climbed into her window and got her on our first adventure in many years. She danced with me that night, and it’s my greatest decision I have ever made. Sometimes in life we can see where we are headed, and sometimes we go in blind. We can either succeed or fail. I succeeded. Out paths crossed once more._

_That week was the happiest one in my life._

_Every songwriter is a poet, and I’m so happy that I have gotten the chance to be able to be a part of writing her song. I’m so happy that I was able to become a poet and write her beautiful song, even if just for a week._

_I realized that each day I had been searching for her smile, a great smile like that first day we met. The smile that made my heart skip a beat. I love her, man, and I swear I do._

_We might go our separate ways again, things might happen too. We can never know for sure how our futures turn out. But I hope our paths crosses once more, and I hope it continues as one path. I hope we can write our songs together again._

_The unknown is a mysterious thing, and maybe some day we will leap out of it and find ourselves, like I did with Felicity. Maybe one day we will know, like I knew my greatest desire was happiness, and that she was always the solution._

_And I hope she smiles, that beautiful smile of hers. Even when I’m away or gone, I hope she smiles. I hope she’s happy. That’s all I want for her._

_God, I hope she smiles._

As she finished the letter, her eyes stared out the window for a while. After a while she tugged the letter to her chest, feeling her breathing. Then she smiled. She smiled because maybe now she could go on, hoping their paths might cross again after all. Somehow she believed it could happen.

And yes, her smile was almost the smile she had the first time they had met.

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT: I SWITCHED NAMES FROM 'I BET MY LIFE' TO 'THE UNKOWN' BECAUSE I ACTUALLY FELT THIS STORY WOULD SERVE MUCH GREATER PURPOSE TO THE TITLE THAN THE OTHER ONE. I HAVE FOUND A MORE SUITABLE TITLE TO MY OTHER STORY BUT PLEASE I HOPE YOU READ THIS BECAUSE THIS IS THE STORY PREVIOUSLY NAMED 'I BET MY LIFE!'  
> The Unknown is a better title, because Part 2 'After', will set Felicity in the unknown. Also, the song is very dear to me and it's about finding happiness (I think), and that IS what Oliver focuses on!!


End file.
